The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is one dataset that lends itself to use in analysis of wealth, poverty and related topics. It captures information on a quarterly basis from a representative sample and asks questions on a wide range of topics including employment status, health and education. In June, the UK Data Service hosted the Family Finance User poland rcs data Conference which included a presentation on how the LFS will be changing over the coming year. You can find the recordings of all of the presentations on the conference home page.
In July, the Benefit changes & Larger Families study recently released a report on the benefit cap and two-child limit and how it impacts larger families. This report utilised LFS data alongside data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and Understanding Society. The Work Foundation, based in Lancaster University, also used LFS data to highlight the Disability Gap and how insecure work can have negative impacts on people with disabilities.
With inflation still at high levels, and with national strikes taking place in many sectors over the past months, the topic of pay rises is a hot one. Data made available through the Service is being used in these debates, with The Progressive Policy Thinktank releasing a report stating that public sector employees could receive a 10% pay rise without it significantly impacting inflation. They utilised LFS data to demonstrate this in their research. This work is interesting in light of a report on GMB union research that also used LFS data to show claims by public sector workers in the Yorkshire and Humber region for Universal Credit rose by 220% between late 2019 and 2022.