The Inequality of Incomes in the United Kingdom

One of the difficulties with which we have to contend in work on distribution of incomes is due to lack of complete data. We rely for information of value on the annual reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, and the data which form the subject matter of tables in these reports are obtained by them in the course of their duties. Consequently, the lowest limits of income in such tables are determined by legislation on income tax. With the gradual lowering of the tax exemption limit in recent years we are now getting possession of data which relate to nearly the whole population. An important new table was given in the g2nd Report (table 87) where incomes were classified by family circumstances for the year I948-49. These figures are described in the report as provisional and there may be some error, but the facts are important and it is worth while analysing them. Table I is concerned with the number of incomes and the number of persons involved in the tabulation

Demographic economics · Development economics · Economics · Inequality · Kingdom · Labour economics · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Mathematics