Mike Brewer is Professor of Economics at the Institute for Economic and Social Research, University of Essex, and a Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. His main interests are in the design and impact of welfare reforms, and the way the tax and benefit system affects families with children. Within this broad area, he has analysed the generosity of the tax and benefit system for families with children, and the impact of the same on work incentives. He took part in a major evaluation of working families' tax credit, examining its impact on labour supply and take-up, and more recently has evaluated the labour market impact of In Work Credit.

Other research has looked at fertility and public policy, how women's labour market behaviour changes after they have children, and trends in childcare use. He has an interest in measuring inequality, poverty and living standards, and has closely followed the current UK government's ambition to eradicate child poverty. He is also interested in evaluation methods and applying those to welfare reforms or labour market interventions.

He studied economics at the universities of Cambridge and Bristol, and he has worked at HM Treasury, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the University of Essex.

He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in December 2011.