An intergenerational audit for the UK

This research, undertaken by researchers at the Resolution Foundation, used data made available via the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS), which is being expanded and improved with ADR UK funding. 

How have different generations fared in the UK over the past 50 years? This is a question researchers George Bangham, Laura Gardiner, Lindsay Judge, Fahmida Rahman and Daniel Tomlinson of the Resolution Foundation investigated by combining a range of survey data about livelihood and the labour market.

The team linked data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Labour Force Survey (LFS), Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS), and Living Costs and Food Survey (LCFS) to assess the living standards of different cohorts and generations over time.

Key findings:

• Earnings progress has stalled: millennials are earning the same, by age, as those born 15 years earlier.
• All post-war generations are spending more on housing than their predecessors, but millennials are spending more money for less.
• Future pensioners are exposed to risks that current retirees are largely protected from.
• The UK’s ageing population means public spending on health, care and social security is set to rise by £83 million by 2040.

This research has recieved extensive media coverage.

Read the full findings here.