Research and impact highlights Sharing intergenerational audit findings with policy

Resolution Foundation members

Molly Broome and Sophie Hale published ‘An intergenerational audit for the UK 2022’ and ‘An intergenerational audit for the UK 2023’. The 2022 report found that that the cost-of-living crisis was having profound, but varying, impacts across different age groups and generations. The 2023 report found that, unlike in the US, in recent years improvements to the living standards of UK millennials’ have not gone far enough to close long-standing generational gaps. Both reports received significant press coverage across major media outlets such as The Guardian, BBC Radio 4 and ITV News. In October 2022, Lord David Willetts was a speaker alongside Bim Afolami MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, at the Conservative Party Conference, discussing how to provide a brighter economic future for all age groups, as part of a Resolution Foundation fringe event. Lord Willetts also gave a presentation on ‘Fairness between the generations: Who pays?’ to the Society of Later Life Advisors, a not for-profit organisation dedicated to regulated financial advice for older people and their families. In November 2023, Sophie Hale and Molly Broome met with the Cabinet Office to discuss intergenerational wealth transfers and living standards. They then presented the findings to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and policymakers from other government Departments in January 2024. Following this meeting, the 2023 report was referenced in a letter from Lord Gardiner of Kimble, Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, to Bim Afolami MP requesting a written update on the progress made of the recommendations from the Select Committee on Intergenerational Fairness and Provision.

The 2023 audit findings featured significantly in the House of Lords Library In Focus article ‘Housing needs of young people’ published on 7 March 2024, emphasising the report conclusion that “young people were still far less likely than previous generations to own their own home and more likely to find themselves in the private rented sector”. On 14 March 2024, the House of Lords debated the housing needs of young people, sponsored by Lord Young of Cookham, a former housing minister. In the debate, Baroness Donaghy referenced research on lower home ownership rates among young people from the Intergenerational Audit 2023, which was recorded in House of Lords Hansard Volume 836, Column 2213 ‘Housing: Young people’.

The first Connecting Generations supported Intergenerational Audit for the UK achieved significant press coverage with 224 media articles; 173 in local press, 39 in national press, 12 in international press. The second audit was covered in 220 media articles; 171 in local press, 35 in national press, 14 in international press.

Further reading

An intergenerational audit for the UK 2022 (Resolution Foundation)

An intergenerational audit for the UK 2023 (Resolution Foundation)

Housing needs of young people (House of Lords Library In Focus)

Housing: Young people (House of Lords Hansard Volume 836)

An intergenerational audit for the UK: 2023 people from the Intergenerational Audit 2023, which was recorded in House of Lords Hansard Volume 836, Column 2213 ‘Housing: Young people’.