@laurenceobrien.bsky.social - Laurence O'Brien

09 Apr 2026 09:32 +0000

How is wealth distributed in the UK and how has this changed? Currently, official statistics don't give a good answer: they calculate pension wealth in a way that's inconsistent over time and with how other assets are valued. New @theifs.bsky.social report with Isaac Delestre fixes this: 🧵 [contains quote post or other embedded content]

01 Apr 2026 08:50 +0000

From next Monday, the state pension age (SPA) will start gradually going up again from 66 to 67, affecting people born on or after 6 April 1960. What is the rationale for this? What effects might it have on people? And should we expect any further increases? [THREAD] [contains quote post or other embedded content]

24 Apr 2025 15:12 +0000

Today the government announced more detail on how they plan to tackle the large number of small pots in the UK pension system. The reforms are due to be announced in the upcoming Pension Schemes bill this spring. A few thoughts on why this matters and what was announced. 👇

12 Feb 2025 17:36 +0000

There are over 12 million DC pension pots worth <£1k. This creates complexity for savers and increases costs for providers. The government should help savers out by ensuring that their deferred small pension pots are consolidated together automatically. See 👇 for more details [contains quote post or other embedded content]

23 Jan 2025 15:27 +0000

New @theifs.bsky.social research out today! We show that Pakistani and Bangladeshi employees are almost twice as likely to opt out of their workplace pension as other employees. This can have big implications for retirement incomes and evidence points to Islamic religious beliefs as a key driver. [contains quote post or other embedded content]

10 Jan 2025 16:23 +0000

New working paper out! Governments in many countries have raised early retirement ages (ERAs) in response to public finance pressures from ageing populations. These policies have consistently been found to lead to increased employment rates among older workers. This paper asks: why? 🤔 [contains quote post or other embedded content]