A modest redistribution of wealth from the top to the bottom would give a pay rise of £40 a month to the lowest paid 25 per cent of the income scale, according to a new report from the High Pay Centre.
A modest redistribution of wealth from the top to the bottom would give a pay rise of £40 a month to the lowest paid 25 per cent of the income scale, according to a new report from the High Pay Centre.
The share of national income going to the top 1 per cent of the income distribution has more than doubled since 1979 to 14.5 per cent from 6 per cent.
At the same time wages for most of the population have stagnated, barely keeping up with inflation.
And government plans to give a tax break worth up to £2.7 billion to the top 1 per cent when the 50p rate is abolished in April means take home pay for the rich will become even more disproportionate, the report says.
But if those earning more than £150,000 took a 10 per cent pay cut and this went directly to the bottom 25 per cent, they would get a 55 per hour pay rise to £7.35, taking them closer to the national living wage of £7.45.
As well as being fair, this would inject spending power into the economy for those at the bottom, the report says.
Currently taxpayers subsidise low-paying employers to the tune of £4 billion with in-work cash transfers a year, it adds.
Inequality at a glance
. In 1979 the top 0.1 per cent took home 1.3 per cent of the national income; by 2007 this had grown to 6.5 per cent.
. The Gini co-efficient, an internationally recognised measure of inequality, was 0.240 in the UK in 1978, since then it has been increasing and in 2010/2011 it was 0.338.
. Someone on an annual salary of £500,000 takes home more in a month than the average person takes home in a year.
61 Responses to “Modest redistribution of wealth would give £40 a month boost to lowest paid”
Mick
No, I’m just not married to Newsbot.
And I suppose it’s ‘understanding social issues’ by insulting Edison and hating the rich.
Mick
Why I would bother is more the question. All that effort just for a Newsbot who squeals like a bitch all day anyway.
Ah, so you admit FPTP is democracy after all! And not all the names you called it.
Poor little Newsbot, never stays consistent. Someone should change his batteries.
Mick
The only triple-dip is Newsbot’s descent into loopyness.
And the lawsuits show the system works. A complex variety of legal issues await the balance of justice, as today patents and designs can infringe those of may other people. And I’m not surprised, given how advanced everything is.
Unlike in Newsbot’s world, where everything would only get as complex as a tractor or phonograph because there’d be no incentive or security doing anything bigger.
Mick
The only food I’d want to steal is yours. Then p’raps you’d give the world a bit of quiet for once!
Let the brainy accrue their dosh in peace. You want some? Then try putting your talents out to tender too. (That is, if raging against the machine is a paying job.)
Newsbot9
A thief is a thief. Your excuses are irrelevant.
And of course you want your rich to accrue ever more wealth. It’s happening right now, keep stealing food!