Trends in income and wealth inequalities

Abstract

Abstract This paper brings together trends in inequalities in income, wealth and, to a limited extent, consumption in the United Kingdom, with a focus on trends until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It considers how trends in wealth compare with the much better known trends in income inequality, and the extent to which changes to the shape of the income distribution – especially at the top – are hidden by an unchanging Gini coefficient. And it explores the key differences between groups in society, and especially between those in different birth cohorts.