Unequal Britain?

A fascinating report giving an insight into inequality Britain is out today and will surely provide more ammunition for opposition parties.

An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK shows that the country has become more unequal over the past 30 years with the richest 10 per cent of the population more than 100 times as wealthy as the poorest 10 per cent of society.

The report was commissioned by Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality, and is the result of 16 months of work by Prof John Hills, of the London School of Economics.

The report examined data going back to 1961 after finding the poverty gap had got steadily worse over the past five years and despite 13 years of New Labour,the divisions in wealth created in the 1980's have not been healed.

Amongst other conclusions

1.White British pupils with GCSE results around or below the national median are less likely to go on to higher education than those from minority ethnic groups

2.Girls have better educational outcomes than boys at school and are more likely to ­enter higher education and achieve good ­degrees, but women's median hourly pay is 21% less than men's.

3.Compared with a white British Christian man with similar qualifications, age and occupation, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim men and Black African Christian men have an income that is 13-21% lower.