The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a new report entitled Two decades of income inequality in Britain: the role of wages, household earnings and redistribution.
The synopsis reads: “The paper looks back at changes in income inequality in Great Britain over the past 20 years, with a particular focus on explaining why – contrary to popular perception –income inequality over most of the distribution has actually declined over this period. We focus on inequality in household incomes, net of taxes and inclusive of benefits and tax credits. We explain trends in inequality by breaking this down into the effect of changes in hourly pay and hours worked of men and women, the tax and benefit system, and the incomes of pensioners.”