Living standards
Living standards, including the cost of living and employment issues, are likely to continue to be of concern to parliament over the next five years.

Insights on emerging trends in business, economics and trade, developed for Horizon Scan 2024 to support decision-makers in the UK Parliament.
Seven different issues were identified under this topic.
Short articles have been written on these issues to help parliament identify what action it may wish to take. New articles will be added when they become available.
Living standards, including the cost of living and employment issues, are likely to continue to be of concern to parliament over the next five years.
Income inequality in the UK has risen over time, although there are several different measures of economic inequality. Perspectives vary on which forms of economic inequality to tackle and how.
Solving the UK’s productivity puzzle is a key issue for the government, following its prioritisation of economic growth in the King’s Speech.
How can the government help local economies, communities, and businesses to grow and become more resilient?
Managing labour supply is central to workforce planning in maximising productivity and growth. This is impacted by a combination of longer-term and emerging trends.
“AI, digital, cyber and technology issues affecting businesses and trade”. Contributors raised a diverse set of issues related to the impact of new technology on business. These included the impacts of AI, financial inclusion, quantum computing, and cybercrime. Many of these issues are covered in other horizon scans and parliamentary briefing papers, and therefore no article has been drafted for this topic.
“Long-term public spending pressure”. The horizon scan identified several demographic changes that may place long-term pressure on the public finances due to their implications for health, social care, and pension provision. Several existing parliamentary briefings explore these issues and therefore an article has not been drafted for this topic.
POST would like to thank consultation respondents and peer reviewers for kindly giving up their time to support this work, including:
*denotes people and organisations who acted as external reviewers of the briefing.