Resolution Foundation vs PolicyEngine UK: UC Comparison

Interactive dashboard comparing Universal Credit statistics from the Resolution Foundation's "Listen and Learn" report (January 2026) with PolicyEngine UK microsimulation estimates.

Live Dashboard

View Dashboard

Key Comparisons

Population & Expenditure (2026)

Metric	RF	PE	Difference
Working-age adults in UC	8.5m (26%)	8.3m (19%)	-0.2m
Children in UC households	6.5m (54%)	5.3m (42%)	-1.2m
Annual UC expenditure (2029)	£86bn	£90.8bn	+£4.8bn

Award Amounts & Demographics (2026)

Metric	RF	PE	Difference
Avg monthly UC award	£1,030	£1,082	+£52
UC families with children	46%	49.3%	+3.3pp
UC childcare recipients	190k	189k	-1k

RF Recommendations Assessment

The dashboard also assesses which of RF's 16 policy recommendations can be modelled using PolicyEngine UK:

• 5 can be fully modelled
• 4 can be partially modelled
• 7 cannot be modelled (administrative/operational changes)

Project Structure

pe-rf-compare-uc/
├── dashboard/                    # React dashboard (Vite)
│   ├── public/data/              # CSV data files
│   │   ├── comparison.csv
│   │   ├── policy_impacts.csv
│   │   ├── uc_elements.csv
│   │   └── metadata.csv
│   └── src/
│       ├── App.jsx               # Main dashboard component
│       ├── App.css               # PolicyEngine styling
│       └── index.css             # Design system variables
├── scripts/
│   └── rf_pe_uc_comparison.py    # Python script to generate CSV data
└── README.md

Development

Generate comparison data

conda activate python313
python scripts/rf_pe_uc_comparison.py

Run dashboard locally

cd dashboard
npm install
npm run dev

Deploy to Vercel

cd dashboard
npm run build
npx vercel --prod

Data Sources

• Resolution Foundation "Listen and Learn" report (January 2026)
• PolicyEngine UK microsimulation model v2.72.2

License

MIT