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In this Commentary, we assess the changes to average incomes, inequality and poverty that have occurred since 1979, with a particular focus on the changes that have occurred in the latest year of data (2008-09) and since 1996-97. This analysis is based upon the latest figures from the DWP's Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series, published on 20 May 2010 (Department for Work and Pensions, 2010). The HBAI series takes household income as its measure of living standards, and is derived from the Family Resources Survey, a survey of around 25,000 households in the United Kingdom that asks detailed questions about income from a range of sources.
This online spreadsheet accompanies the report, showing trends in average incomes, inequality and poverty since 1961.
Click here to view our other annual reports on the topic.
Authors

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


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.2010.0116
- ISBN
- 978-1-903274-76-7
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Joyce, R et al. (2010). Poverty and inequality in the UK: 2010. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/poverty-and-inequality-uk-2010 (accessed: 13 July 2025).
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