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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Poverty in the UK
— a comparison with nineteen other countries | | Author(s) | Jonathan Bradshaw, Jun-Rong Chen |
| Journal title | Benefits, no 18, January 1997 |
| Pages | pp 13-17 |
| Keywords | Poverty ; Social characteristics [elderly] ; Statistics [data] ; Comparison ; United Kingdom ; International. |
| Annotation | Comparative data from named national surveys of 20 countries for 1990 indicate that inequalities in the UK have risen faster than any other OECD country except for New Zealand. This article explains the impact of direct taxes and social security benefits on poverty, and how different countries try to reduce poverty. The composition and characteristics of poor households for the 20 countries, the sensitivity of the poverty threshold, comparisons of inequality, and trends in poverty and inequality from 1979 to 1991 are examined. The UK is noted as having comparatively high poverty rates among older people, lone parents, and families with children. Poverty and inequality are also relatively worse after the impact of direct taxes and benefits in the UK, which suggests that social and fiscal policies do little to protect the poor against the impact of market and other external forces. The analysis reinforces the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's Inquiry into income and wealth (JRF, 1995) that the UK became more unequal than other countries during the 1980s. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-980211201 A |
| Classmark | W6: F: 6C: 48: 8: 72 * |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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