A chart showing how regular wages are growing after taking account of inflation. The first few months of the period starting September 2023 showed relatively slow growth, but there was consistent growth between February 2024 and September 2024, meaning wages grew by 2.4% over the year. This latter period is in contrast to the period starting September 2024, where growth has hovered around zero, ending up as an increase of just 0.3% over 17 months to February 2026.

See a resurrected JRF chart showing how disappointing real wage growth has been since September 2024, compared to the year before then. And this is before any impacts from the Iran conflict. Earnings up £1.40/wk over last 17 months, compared to £11.60/wk up in the prev 12 months.

Under pressure: The affordability challenges facing private renters In the past 2 years, rents in the UK have risen by an average of nearly 8%. Here we look at different dimensions of rent-affordability pressure faced by tenants in the private rented sector.

Read the briefing in full: www.jrf.org.uk/housing/unde...

Current subsidies, meant to support those on low incomes with housing costs, are not effectively protecting recipients from the pressures of housing affordability.

🔁 Something needs to change.

Next week, we'll share our third and final takeaway from the briefing.

Stay tuned!

At the same time, three quarters (77%) of private renters who do not have enough to comfortably pay rent report they are not in receipt of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit.

🔎 This shows affordability challenges extend significantly beyond the reach of the benefit system.

🏘️ Local Housing Allowance was also frozen in 2024, with the level of current support reflecting 30th percentile rents in the year to Sep 2023, but since then rents are up by 16%.

By Nov 2025, LHA failed to cover rents for over 1/2 of private renters in receipt of UC in England.

🏠Amongst private renters in the bottom 40% of incomes, who spend more than 30% of their incomes on rents:

- Around 1.4 million currently report receiving support through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit

- Around 2.1 million *do not*

‼️ Although there is support available via Universal Credit or Housing Benefit for some low-income households, the support does not extend to everyone who needs it.

📊 MCLG figures from 2024 showed:

- Private renters with the lowest fifth of incomes spent an average of 63% of their household incomes on rent in 2023-24.

- Around 40% of private renters in the bottom two fifths of incomes reported finding it difficult to cover housing costs.

Last week, we published our briefing on affordability in the private rented sector (PRS)

We pointed to average rent-to-income ratios being persistently high as one of the key issues renters face.

Today, we'll explain how this is particularly acute for low-income households ⬇️

There has been an improvement in the latest poverty statistics. At this meeting, we will be joined by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and others to explore how to use poverty statistics confidently, accurately and effectively to build a future free from poverty.

Register here: tinyurl.com/yc5y4rm9

The building blocks of economic security in Scotland This briefing explores what is driving widespread feelings of economic insecurity in Scotland today.

3. The building blocks of economic security in Scotland

www.jrf.org.uk/public-attit...

Scottish political parties must address economic insecurity Economic insecurity is shaping how people in Scotland vote, think about politics, and if they believe change is possible at all — particularity those facing the most pressure.

2. Scottish political parties must address economic insecurity

www.jrf.org.uk/public-attit...

Tackling economic insecurity could be key to rebuilding trust in Scottish politics JRF's latest Scotland polling analysis shows minor changes are not enough. Economic and political systems must be reshaped to provide everyone in Scotland with the security they deserve.

1. Tackling economic insecurity could be key to rebuilding trust in Scottish politics

www.jrf.org.uk/public-attit...

Action needed now for economically insecure disabled people in Scotland Any serious attempt at reducing economic insecurity must consider its disproportionate impact on disabled people.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 This is the final publication in our economic insecurity in Scotland series.

Links to the other publications in the thread below

Read the full briefing here: www.jrf.org.uk/public-attit...

🌐 Any party hoping to form the next Scottish Government can't afford to overlook this.

Getting these decisions right for is vital for ensuring that everyone in Scotland can have a good standard of living.

They are clear about the policy changes that would improve both their economic security and their feelings towards politics in Scotland.

- Lower cost of essentials, like energy
- More affordable good-quality housing
- Better job opportunities
- Stronger social security support

Disabled people are facing discrimination through a combination of:

- An inadequate social security system
- An unaffordable and inaccessible housing market
- The disability employment and pay gap

📉 Reducing economic insecurity must involve tackling these systemic issues.

📄 Among those who felt economically insecure, disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to be:

- Concerned about their household income over the next 12 months
- Worried about their current and future debt levels
- Not confident they can cover essential costs

Our latest polling showed disabled people in Scotland account for:

- 30% of all people who felt economically insecure
- 36% of the people who are very economically insecure

👥 These are well above the proportion of disabled people in the national population, at 21%.

New briefing! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

With the Scottish election just weeks away now, the fourth and final publication in our economic insecurity series is out today.

Disabled people in Scotland are disproportionately likely to be economically insecure.

Here's what that means ⏬

It's a bit of a myth that rents are constantly increasing faster than earnings or overall inflation - on average, they're not.

So what *is* the problem of unaffordability in the private rented sector? And what does this mean for how we go about fixing it?

Our take 🧵⬇️

Brilliant policy role at @jrf-uk.bsky.social currently live, at a particularly exciting time for the organisation's work.

Lead two multidisciplinary teams, work and care, respectively.

Do take a look, share and feel free to reach out to us if of interest.
jrf.octo-firstclass.co.uk/candidates/c...

This is a precis of an excellent paper from @jelliott94.bsky.social, Rosie Worsdale and Ruby Blower at JRF. Do skim the thread or better still, read the paper.

Under pressure: The affordability challenges facing private renters In the past 2 years, rents in the UK have risen by an average of nearly 8%. Here we look at different dimensions of rent-affordability pressure faced by tenants in the private rented sector.

We're working on a policy report, to be published in early May, setting out what the Government can do to tackle PRS affordability.

🔎 That starts with a clear diagnosis of the pressures private renters face.

Read more: www.jrf.org.uk/housing/unde...

Polling conducted by @moreincommonuk.bsky.social on behalf of JRF indicates strong public backing for action.

✍️ 79% of the public agreed that the Government should play a role in ensuring the private rents charged by landlords are affordable.

- Difficulty saving for a deposit
- Loss of financial stability if circumstances change
- Less money to spend in the rest of the economy.

🔄 It's clear that something needs to change

🔎 For households in the lowest 1/3 of incomes in their 30s, between 1978-89 and 2018-19:

- Homeownership rates fell from 52% to 28%
- Proportion of social renters fell from 41% to 29%
- Proportion of private renters increased from 7% to 43%

Secondary effects of this include 👇

📊 The PRS now makes up 1/5 of all housing stock in the UK.

Which means more people exposed to insecure tenures and the high costs associated with private renting.

This is particularly acute for people on low incomes.

In the late 1970s, average rents in the PRS were equivalent to around 11% of the average private renter’s household income.

By 2013-14, this had risen to an average of 34% nationally.

📍In London in 2023-24, on average private renters spent 46% of their income on rents.

The first is that average rent-to-income ratios have been persistently high over the last two decades.

🏘️ Homeownership and social renting rates have significantly fallen since 2000 - while at the same time the PRS has grown by 2.7 million homes.