My friends on the left are not going to like this but the group affected most by the overall austerity package in the UK —not just in terms of pounds, but also as a proportion of their income—has been the richest.
Those in the top tenth of the income distribution have been hit by a combination of increases to income tax and national insurance contributions, restrictions to pension tax relief and withdrawal of child benefit. Research tells us that households in the top tenth of the income distribution will have lost about 7 per cent of their income as a result of the consolidation package, compared with between 4 and 5 per cent for those in the bottom third of the distribution, and about 3 per cent on average overall and don't forget that welfare payments were increase by 'only' +1% following inflationary linked rises for the last 4 years (during which time everyone else has had declining incomes) to howls of protest!
Those in the top tenth of the income distribution have been hit by a combination of increases to income tax and national insurance contributions, restrictions to pension tax relief and withdrawal of child benefit. Research tells us that households in the top tenth of the income distribution will have lost about 7 per cent of their income as a result of the consolidation package, compared with between 4 and 5 per cent for those in the bottom third of the distribution, and about 3 per cent on average overall and don't forget that welfare payments were increase by 'only' +1% following inflationary linked rises for the last 4 years (during which time everyone else has had declining incomes) to howls of protest!
So to a large extent we really are “all in this together” or rather a quite small % of the population are now paying off the substantial part of Gordon Brown's debts!
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