Lizzie Simpson

COP26: Global governance vs. individual action. Who is responsible for climate change?

As awareness of the damaging impact of climate change increases, there is a growing agreement that our current ways of life are unsustainable, and to tackle climate change we will need collective behavioural change on a global scale. However, the question is whether this change should come from government policy or from individuals voluntarily changing […]

11 Nov 2021

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Rise in National Living Wage not enough to help younger people

The government announced a rise in the National Living Wage this week, presenting it as a win for lower-paid working people. Lizzie Simpson, IF Researcher, discusses the details of this rise in the context of inflation and rising costs of living, and questions the merit of the UK’s age-based minimum wage system. Changes to the […]

2 Nov 2021

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National Insurance: young people and lower earners hit the hardest

Yesterday, MPs voted to approve raising employees’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) by 1.25 percentage points, breaking a key manifesto promise not to raise taxes. While the government marketed the rise as “progressive”, in reality it is an intergenerationally unfair tax reform which will affect younger generations the most. Lizzie Simpson, IF Researcher, explains. A regressive […]

9 Sep 2021

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Freedom and injustice in the time of coronavirus

Last week, the majority of COVID-19 restrictions in England were removed, marking the biggest return to “normality” that we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic. However, this does not mean the end of restrictions for everybody, as IF Researcher, Lizzie Simpson, discusses how the new settlement affects younger people differently, and how this […]

29 Jul 2021

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New 95% mortgage policy will make homeownership even more unaffordable

The announcement of the 95% mortgage in this week’s budget may have initially sounded like good news for those in “generation rent” who have struggled for years to get onto the housing ladder. However, Lizzie Simpson, IF Researcher, explains why this policy is likely to make homeownership increasingly unachievable for young people in the longer […]

5 Mar 2021

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Young people hit hardest by rising unemployment

As we approach the milestone landmark of a year since the first UK lockdown began, newly released data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal just how damaging this past year has been for young people’s employment prospects. Lizzie Simpson, IF Researcher, explains

3 Mar 2021

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Economic impact of COVID-19 continues to disadvantage younger people

Last week, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published new data detailing the current state of the UK’s labour market and businesses. This has revealed not only the damaging impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to have on the UK’s economy as a whole, but also the disproportionally negative impact that it is having […]

5 Feb 2021

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