
Matthew Oakley
Head of Economics & Social Policy, 2011-2013
Matthew now works at Which?, heading up their economic analysis unit. Matthew was Policy Exchange’s Head of Economics & Social Policy from 2011 to 2013, focusing on welfare reform, growth and the UK economy, public sector reform and financial policy. His recent publications include an assessment of the public sector pay premium across the wage distribution; reports outlining the next steps for tackling unemployment and benefit dependency; and a report outlining areas where Government must focus to boost growth in the long-term.

Related Posts & Publications


Something for Nothing: Reinstating conditionality for jobseekers
by Matthew Oakley | Oct 17, 2011
Read Publication Something for Nothing is the third report in our welfare reform series. The report calls for a new points based system for Jobseekers Allowance that recognises different ‘job-search’ activities that claimants are required to carry out each week....
Personalised Welfare
by Matthew Oakley | Sep 16, 2011
Read Publication Personalised Welfare: rethinking employment support and Jobcentres notes serious problems with JCP. Only 29% of claimants say they are satisfied with their experience at Jobcentres. In research for DWP, employers reported “very negative” experiences...
Public and private sector terms, conditions and the issue of fairness
by Matthew Oakley | Jun 5, 2011
Read Publication The next four years will see significant changes in the remuneration, terms and conditions of workers in both the public and private sectors. This note examines the evolution of pay and conditions during 2010 and what the prospects are for these...
No Rights Without Responsibility: Rebalancing the welfare state
by Matthew Oakley | May 20, 2011
Read Publication By Matthew Oakley & Peter Saunders. No Rights Without Responsibility argues that conditions on benefit claimants should be increased so that they have to spend more time each week looking for a job. With research from the DWP finding that the...Support Us
Policy Projects
Policy Areas
- Crime and Justice
- Demography, Immigration and Integration
- Economics and Social Policy
- Education
- Environment and Energy
- Foreign Policy and Security
- Government and Politics
- Health and Social Care
- Housing and Urban Regeneration
- Industrial Strategy
- International Trade
- Security and Extremism
- Space
- Technology
Latest Tweets
RT @MrPaulStott My article in The Times on the #Prevent Review, William Shawcross and the challenge posed by Islamist and far-right extremism. The status quo is not an option: thetimes.co.uk/artic…
Watch the event in full here: policyexchange.org.u…
The UK's fertility rate was 1.59 in 2020 - yet on average women would like to have 2.3 and men 2.2 children. This fertility gap is a tragedy - argues @CristinaOhq at Policy Exchange @David_Goodhart pic.twitter.com/9WFX…
RT @JimBethell 🇬🇧 expertise in cutting-edge specialised services demonstrates #NHS at its most innovative. But its huge success means tough decisions if we are to benefit from these advances. This @Policy_Exchange report from @Robert_WH_Ede is so important. Read it! policyexchange.org.u…
RT @edking_I This is a pretty interesting 2021 piece on #climate risk by ex CIA chief David Petraeus + @BenMcAleenan... excerpt below pertinent given escalating global food crisis policyexchange.org.u… pic.twitter.com/knI4…