Earnings insurance ‘should be permanent feature of UK welfare system’

Resolution Foundation says pandemic has highlighted pre-crisis flaws in welfare state

The government needs to learn lessons from its furlough scheme and make earnings insurance a permanent feature of a radically reformed welfare system, a thinktank has said.

The Resolution Foundation, which focuses on the needs of middle- and low-income households, said emergency action during the pandemic had protected living standards but also highlighted pre-crisis flaws in the welfare state.