London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

UK income inequality widens after pandemic dip

UK income inequality widens after pandemic dip

British income inequality rose to a three-year high in the 2021/22 financial year after a dip during the coronavirus pandemic, but remains below peaks seen in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, official figures showed on Wednesday.
The median British household had after-tax income - including wages, cash benefits and investment income - of 32,300 pounds ($39,800) in the year to the end of March 2022, 0.6% less than the year before after adjusting for inflation.

Median incomes for the poorest fifth of households dropped by 3.8% after inflation in the 12 months to the end of March 2022 to 14,500 pounds while those for the richest fifth rose by 1.6% to 66,000 pounds, the Office for National Statistics said.

Inequality dropped during the pandemic as high earners suffered bigger percentage drops in earnings, while the poorest benefited from a temporary increase in benefits which was withdrawn in 2021/22.

Most Britons will have faced a bigger squeeze on their incomes during the current financial year, as consumer price inflation hit a 41-year high of 11.1% in October.

Looking at incomes as a whole, including the effects of direct taxation and the benefits systems, inequality rose in 2021/22 to its highest since 2018/19 when calculated using the Gini coefficient, a measure widely used by statisticians.

However, it was generally higher in the second half of the 2000s, and peaked in 2007/08.

Income inequality rose fastest in Britain in the 1980s, under the leadership of former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and increased at a slower pace during the 1990s and 2000s, including under Labour governments.

Inequality fell after the global financial crisis, despite subdued growth in median living standards, and was at a 19-year low in 2016/17 when Britons voted to leave the European Union.

However, the data does not directly capture the wealth impact of surging house prices, which have risen out of reach of many people who do not already own a home, and does not count the benefit from owning a home outright rather than renting or paying a mortgage.

The ONS said the average household used in its calculations comprised 1.8 adults and 0.5 children.

($1 = 0.8123 pounds)
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
×