Describes and analyses one of the biggest social changes in Britain since the Second World War: the dramatic widening of the income distribution since the end of the 1970s, the growth of poverty, and the factors that have driven them. Examines how government intervention through social spending and the taxes that pay for it affect this distribution, and why they take the forms they do. Each part of the discussion is set in the context of public attitudes as revealed by the long-running British Social Attitudes survey. Analyses changes in policy since New Labour came to government in the UK in ... More

Describes and analyses one of the biggest social changes in Britain since the Second World War: the dramatic widening of the income distribution since the end of the 1970s, the growth of poverty, and the factors that have driven them. Examines how government intervention through social spending and the taxes that pay for it affect this distribution, and why they take the forms they do. Each part of the discussion is set in the context of public attitudes as revealed by the long-running British Social Attitudes survey. Analyses changes in policy since New Labour came to government in the UK in 1997, evidence on their impacts, and the constraints and pressures on future policies.