Sunday, February 10, 2013

Squeezed until the pips squeak

The top 1% of earners have seen their slice of the pie increase from 7% in the mid-1990s to 10% today, while the bottom half have seen their share drop from 19% to 18%.

The super-rich now pocket 10 pence in every pound of income paid in Britain, while the poorest half of the population take home only 18 pence of every pound between them, according to  the Resolution Foundation in its report Squeezed Britain 2013 .

Matthew Whittaker, senior economist at the thinktank, said: "If we take the longer view, we see the very wealthiest have continued to prosper while many others have not. The growing gap in incomes is pronounced when you look at the top 10th of households, and overwhelming when you consider the position of the top 1%. The rest of society hasn't kept up. It's the squeezed majority, not just the squeezed middle."
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has stated that "Labour market conditions are widening the income gap between full-time employees and an increasing share of the workforce on part-time, insecure and low-wage jobs. This comes in a context where income inequality was already high and rising before the recession."

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