The income gap between the richest and poorest Britons remained stubbornly wide last year
The income inequality gap stayed pretty much flat in 2015, according to data released today by the Office for National Statistics – despite reports suggesting inequality has fallen in recent years.
Once the impact of taxes and benefits were taken into account, any changes in the inequality gap were negligible, despite a slight narrowing in gross average incomes.
(Source: ONS)
The average gross income of the UK's top fifth richest households last year was £83,800. This figure was 14 times greater than that of the poorest fifth, who had a gross average income of £6,100.
While the rate for the UK's wealthiest earners remained flat from 2014 to 2015, the UK's lowest earners earned an average £500 more last year, up from £5,500 in 2014.
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However, after taking into account taxes and benefits, the ratio between the average incomes of the top and the bottom fifth of households (£62,500 and £16,500 respectively) is reduced to five to one.
In 2015, the richest fifth of households paid £29,800 in taxes (both direct and indirect) compared with £5,200 for the poorest fifth.
"These ratios are broadly similar to those in 2013/14, indicating that inequality of income has not changed substantially between the two years, according to these measures," the ONS said.
Benefits
Just over half of all households, 50.8 per cent, received more in benefits (including benefits in kind – such as NHS treatment and education) than they paid in taxes. That's about to 13.6m households.
This continues the downward trend seen since 2010/11, but remains above the proportion seen before the economic downturn, the ONS said.
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Meanwhile, cash benefits made up 57.2 per cent of the gross income of the poorest fifth of households (£7,400), compared with 3.5 per cent (£2,900) of the income of the richest fifth.
Recent data released by the ONS showed people living in the UK are among the least likely across the European Union to be trapped in poverty.
Between 2011 and 2014, 6.5 per cent of the UK’s population were classified as being in "persistent poverty", putting us in 26th place out of the 28 member of the EU, where only Denmark and the Czech Republic had lower levels of persistent poverty.