The system is all but designed to subsidise low wages, disincentivise productivity, and give retirees no stake in the UK maintaining a thriving, dynamic economy.
The latest report from Centre for Cities highlights how an impressive record on employment has been undermined by poor productivity, stagnant wages, and the rising cost of housing.
The key problem is stagnation. Margaret Thatcher’s reforms promoted mobility and opportunity. Now we are an economy which doesn’t change enough.
As we live and work for longer, good work is vital to provide a better later life. We believe that government and employers both have a role to play in enabling good work for the benefit of the economy, businesses and individuals.
The ninth part of our series on reducing demand for government, in which we set out a programme for change – focused on families, civil society and government.
Ministers need to drive up public-sector productivity via something-for-something pay deals, and support a supply-side revolution through non-inflationary tax cuts.
He must level with voters about the poor prospects of the public finances – and the need for both a return to austerity and serious decisions around generating growth.
The thirteenth article in a new series on ConHome about how government might be made smaller, taxpayers better off and and society stronger – through strong families, better schools and good jobs.
The pandemic had an unexpected impact on the way we work. It is affecting output and productivity, and its particular consequences have been in the public sector: working from home.
Ministers who have had 13 years to enact change prefer to sound off about problems as if they were in Opposition.
Rather than try to put the cork back in the bottle post-Covid, the right needs to recognise the home-working revolution is here to stay.
The changing global landscape should refocus our policy on the factors that are need to improve the investment outlook – such as sound macro polices and the level, predictability and simplicity of tax.
My note of caution is that if the Government changes the rules on ratios now, the noise about it will drown every other positive thing we try to do.
The NHS which has seen its productivity collapse, and is facing enormous cost pressures as the population ages, must surely be first in line for the application of the tools as they emerge.