In April 1991 the Government set out its proposals for replacement of the Community Charge (poll tax) by the Council Tax. This paper analyses the structure of the new tax and examines its distributional effects. Section II describes the proposed tax and demonstrates how it is hybrid of poll tax,...

The reduction and eventual elimination of child poverty has become one of the central objectives of the new Labour Government in Britain. Measures to achieve this by changing taxes and benefits and promoting paid work are described. Their effects are assessed using a micro-simulation model. The...

This paper analyses the extent to which tax-benefit systems provide an automatic stabilisation of income for those who became unemployed at the onset of the Great Recession. The focus of the analysis is on the compensation for earnings lost due to unemployment which is channelled through the...

The at-risk-of-poverty rate is one of the three indicators used for monitoring progress towards the Europe 2020 poverty and social exclusion reduction target. Timeliness of this indicator is critical for monitoring the effectiveness of policies. However, due in part to the complicated nature of...

The financial and economic crisis which started in the late 2000s and the fiscal consolidation measures to counter the subsequent government budget deficits have an impact on household income distribution and macroeconomic recovery. We consider the austerity measures in relation to their...

This paper explores and compares the effectiveness of Minimum Income (MI) schemes in protecting persons of working age from poverty in the European Union. Using the European microsimulation model EUROMOD we estimate indicators of coverage and adequacy of MI schemes in 14 EU countries. In terms...

Imputed rental income of homeowners is tax exempt in most countries, despite the long-standing arguments recommending its inclusion in the tax base, on both equity and efficiency grounds. While the financial and fiscal crisis revived interest towards this form of taxation, this paper...

Imputed rental income of homeowners is tax exempt in most countries, despite the long-standing arguments recommending its inclusion in the tax base, on both equity and efficiency grounds. The current fiscal crisis revived interest towards this form of taxation. The paper investigates the fiscal...

This article explores the implications of alternative policy regimes for gender wage inequality. Against the background of a description of recent changes in pay ratios of men and women in Britain, the focus is primarily on calculating the likely effects on gender wage ratios of introducing the...

This paper examines the extent to which tax and benefit policy changes introduced in the period 2001-11 had a poverty- or inequality-reducing effect. We assess whether the period was indeed a “missed opportunity” for policy changes to make a difference to poverty reduction since the Lisbon...