Income inequality policies and inclusive growth

The UK has a very high level of income inequality compared to other countries. Income inequality is entrenched across genders, ages, ethnicities, and regions, being accumulated during individuals’ lifetimes and inherited by the next generation. Income inequality lies in the heart of many current problems and policies which society is focused on e.g., gender disparities, inclusive growth, social mobility, inequality in opportunities, and has complex relationships and strong associations with many other issues like health inequalities, poverty and unemployment.

This report examines income inequality in the UK at a regional level with a particular focus on West Midlands. This includes analysis of main metrics of income inequality at the regional level, distribution of income across population percentiles in the West Midlands and initial approaches to understanding the drivers behind income inequality. The main metrics of income inequality throughout the report are calculated using annual gross income at the individual level.