This is not the latest version of this publication. For the final version, published by Oxford University Press on 17th July 2024, please see here.

In its initial report, the IFS Deaton Review has pointed out that ‘[i]nequality cannot be reduced to any one dimension: it is the culmination of myriad forms of privilege and disadvantage, many of which reinforce each other’.

This historical commentary will discuss the influence of the most significant institutions that have produced these interacting dimensions
in British history, after first summarising what is currently known of long-term historical trends in income and wealth inequality.

Cite this as:

Szreter, S. (2021), ‘The history of inequality: the deep-acting ideological and institutional influences’, IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/the-history-of-inequality