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Intergenerational Foundation Spring Newsletter
The housing crisis continues. Renters, largely made up of younger people, are the group most likely to be unable to afford an unexpected, but necessary expense of £850. That is equivalent to around one month’s rent outside London. A record 4.5 million younger people have now returned to live at the family home, unable to strike out on their own, and that’s if they have a family home to go back to. The rites of passage open to previous generations have been closed to today’s young. Add the climate crisis, record inflation, fiscal drag and marginal tax rates of over 40% when student debt is included, and it's no surprise to find that younger generations are being left behind.
We need a new, fairer social contract between the generations and between the state and the young. We need your help in doing that so please consider donating to IF.
Budget 2023 - Zilch. Zero. Nothing. Nada.
IF called for:
- Fairer forms of taxation that would bring unearned income in line with earned income, the taxation of which, falls disproportionately on younger workers
- A drive for new affordable housing for younger generations
- Investment in a genuinely green transition
- Help for students unable to afford to eat, heat their homes or go to lectures
Instead, the Chancellor rewarded older wealthier cohorts with more pension tax-relief with the scrapping of the Lifetime Allowance. He also reduced Air Passenger Duty rather than investing more in greener train travel. He rebadged nuclear energy as a “green” fuel while leaving the toxic time bomb of waste to future generations. Finally, he kept the freeze on tax thresholds which will pull more young people into the taxation system more quickly. The only mention of “future generations” was the political rhetoric around reducing government debt. You can read more about IF’s response to this year’s budget here.
Research update
Our lates research reports are below. If you want to catch up on our other recently published research on the savings squeeze facing the young, why the government should support trains over planes or how intergenerational fairness should intersect with the net zero transition, go to our research pages on the website.
This IF report analyses house type, age, under-occupation and energy consumption and compares different downsizing scenarios and energy costs in order encourage older generations to appreciate the energy savings they could make from downsizing.
Reducing floor space and having better insulation are among the best ways to reduce energy consumption and therefore bills. The larger the dwelling, and the higher the number of bedrooms, the more substantial the increase in energy consumption. The report found that downsizing from larger to smaller homes in England could save 8 million homeowners up to £5,000 a year in lower energy bills.
The government should encourage and incentivise downsizing, address the market failure in the retirement housing sector, and build more housing across all tenures.
Good & Fair Employers Club
IF was delighted to speak at the Good+Fair Employers Club on how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting early careers’ employees. If your organisation would like to learn more about how your youngest workers are faring, please email liz@if.org.uk for more details. For information on how to join the employers club you can contact Tanya de Grunwald.
Staff changes
We are delighted to welcome Sylvan Lutz as an IF Researcher. Sylvan completed his BSS. in Economics and Political Science in Canada and is currently completing a double MSc. in Environmental Management (Peking University) and in Environmental Economics and Climate Change (London School of Economics).
We also welcome Abbie Cavendish as our new digital communications consultant, charged with turbo-charging IF comms.
This IF report analyses house type, age, under-occupation and energy consumption and compares different downsizing scenarios and energy costs in order encourage older generations to appreciate the energy savings they could make from downsizing.
Reducing floor space and having better insulation are among the best ways to reduce energy consumption and therefore bills. The larger the dwelling, and the higher the number of bedrooms, the more substantial the increase in energy consumption. The report found that downsizing from larger to smaller homes in England could save 8 million homeowners up to £5,000 a year in lower energy bills.
The government should encourage and incentivise downsizing, address the market failure in the retirement housing sector, and build more housing across all tenures.
Sponsor IF Research
IF works with many organisations and businesses on research that is of mutual benefit. If you would like to discuss how our partnerships work please email liz@if.org.uk.
What IF? Podcast
The What IF? Podcast is back for a third series! Recent episodes look at how students are suffering in the cost-of-living crisis and how lodging could help to address the housing crisis in the short term. Available on Spotify, Apply, Google and many more platforms, you can catch up on past episodes here. Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch.
Support our work in 2023
IF, like many other charities, depends on the generosity of our supporters. Please consider helping IF to undertake more research. You can donate here.
Our corporate supporter work continues to grow. If your company is interested in learning more about how IF works with the corporate world please get in touch with liz@if.org.uk.
We’re on Twitter @inter_gen, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. So, join the conversation and help us bring about a fairer future for younger and future generations.
