Cities Outlook 2016: Mapping the low-wage high-welfare economy
In the Summer Budget 2015, the Chancellor set out his vision to build a “higher wage, low-welfare” economy in Britain. This year’s Cities Outlook shows that while 14 cities can be said to be achieving this goal already, almost half have lower wages, and higher welfare, than the national average. Moreover, welfare spending since 2010 has grown at a much faster rate in high-wage cities, largely the result of rising housing benefit payments. Outlook 2016 argues that in order for the Chancellor to achieve his objective, he will need to vary his approach across the country. To deal with increases in welfare spending in recent years the focus will need to be on addressing housing shortages in high-wage areas. Meanwhile in low-wage areas, to tackle both low-pay and high-welfare, the focus needs to be on boosting jobs and skills.
