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In this Commentary, we assess the changes to average incomes, inequality and poverty that have occurred under the first 10 years of the Labour government, with a particular focus on the changes that have occurred in the latest year of data. This analysis is based upon the latest figures from the DWP's Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series, published on 10 June 2008 (Department for Work and Pensions, 2008c). The HBAI series takes household income as its measure of living standards and is derived from the Family Resources Survey, a survey of around 28,000 households in the United Kingdom that asks detailed questions about income from a range of sources.
Click here to access data on living standards, poverty and inequality since 1961 and to view our other annual reports on the topic.
Authors

Mike Brewer

Research Fellow
Luke is a Research Fellow at the IFS and his general research interests include education policy, political economy and poverty and inequality.

Alastair Muriel

Associate Director
David is Head of Devolved and Local Government Finance. He also works on tax in developing countries as part of our TaxDev centre.
Report details
- DOI
- 10.1920/co.ifs.2008.0105
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Brewer, M et al. (2008). Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2008. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/poverty-and-inequality-uk-2008 (accessed: 17 February 2025).
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