Nicola Smith
Nicola writes for Left Foot Forward on labour market issues. She is the Head of the Economic and Social Affairs Department at the TUC - and is a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee - and also writes at Touchstone.
Simplification, sanctions and cuts won’t create jobs
Over the last few days the coalition has been keen to sell Universal Credit as the answer to all the labour market's problems. After the deepest recession in decades, they are confident they can reduce worklessness by 300,000 jobs (a 'conservative' estimate), reduce child and working age poverty, reduce working-age welfare expenditure by £18 billion and make everyone in work better off, simply by reforming the welfare system.
Cable is wrong: Working families will be worse off after tax credit changes
While recent announcements have led to increases in the child element, they have also led to significant cuts in the basic element, 30 hour element and childcare elements as well increasing the rate at which tax credit awards fall in relation to rising household incomes. In contrast to the business secretary’s claim, the reality for many working families (particularly those with childcare costs) is therefore that the total impact of these changes means they will receive far less now than they would do if current policy remained in place.
Labour market weakness continues – while help for long-term unemployed is cut
Today's labour market statistics show that there should be real government concern about the direction that our labour market is taking, reports Nicols Smith.
Child Benefit cuts will hit the poor hardest in the long run
In the long run, the cuts to Child Benefit announced today will hit the poorest hardest, as the principle of universal benefits is eroded, argues Nicola Smith.
The DWP’s mysterious figures on workless households
The DWP have recently briefed journalists on the number of households in the UK where nobody has ever been in paid employment - but where have the figures come from?
Good news on employment, but concerning signs for the future
Today's labour market figures present some promising news, as well as a number of concerning signs about the future direction of the labour market recovery.