This report produced in partnership with Peabody analyses the cost-of-living challenges facing hundreds of thousands of London’s social housing residents, highlighting how low-income Londoners have been particularly hard hit by the cost-of-living crisis, worsened by cuts to benefits.

The report found that:

  • The economy is picking up, but barriers to employment and in-work poverty persist for many
  • Among those not working or in low-paid work, more people are going without essentials such as food or heating in order to save money
  • Rising fuel costs are a big worry

The report includes a number of policy recommendations including a strengthened safety net through ensuring the benefits system keeps pace with rising costs of living as much as possible, and further support to combat fuel poverty.

10 July 2026

Building trust before jobs: supporting NEET young people in East Finchley 

Andrew Potter, Project Manager of the JobsPlus pilot in East Finchley, outlines a different approach to supporting young people into employment and training.

Read more

29 June 2026

What enables the effective design, delivery and evaluation of local work and health programmes?

This report presents findings from an evidence review on what enables the effective design, delivery and evaluation of local health and work programmes.

Read more

29 June 2026

Scoping report: Labour Market Evidence Programme

This scoping report as part of the Labour Market Evidence programme provides a summary of the work undertaken by IES and L&W between October 2025 and March 2026 including user consultation. It summarises the evidence needs of local policy makers and sets out how these needs can be addressed.

Read more

18 June 2026

Labour Market Briefing: June 2026

Our analysis of the ONS labour market statistics, released on the morning of 18 June 2026.

Read more

18 June 2026

Labour market stats response, June 2026

L&W’s chief executive Stephen Evans responds to the latest labour market data from ONS.

Read more

17 June 2026

Evaluation of Central London Forward’s Youth Guarantee Trailblazer 

Learning and Work Institute has evaluated the first year of delivery of Full Potential, the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer delivered by Central London Forward.

Read more

9 June 2026

Innovative, “hyper-local” approach to employment support completes two years

An innovative employment support pilot spanning Medway to Merseyside has shown promise reaching social housing residents who are out of work but do not typically access mainstream support.

Read more

9 June 2026

Final report: Evaluation of the JobsPlus Pilot

This evaluation of JobsPlus builds on the interim findings published in September 2025 to provide evidence on whether the model can be adapted to the UK context and effectively implemented to improve employment outcomes.  

Read more

28 May 2026

Responding to the interim report of the Milburn review

L&W chief executive Stephen Evans responds to the interim report from the Milburn review on Thursday 28 May 2026.

Read more