Britain's income distribution is like a multi-story apartment building with the numbers of residents on the different floors corresponding to the concentration of people at different income levels in any particular year. The poorest are in the basement, the richest are in the penthouse, and the majority somewhere in between. But what are the dynamics of occupancy patterns? Snapshots of the building register at different times tell us nothing about these. Over time, how much movement between floors is there, and has the frequency of moves or the distance travelled been changing over the last tw ... More

Britain's income distribution is like a multi-story apartment building with the numbers of residents on the different floors corresponding to the concentration of people at different income levels in any particular year. The poorest are in the basement, the richest are in the penthouse, and the majority somewhere in between. But what are the dynamics of occupancy patterns? Snapshots of the building register at different times tell us nothing about these. Over time, how much movement between floors is there, and has the frequency of moves or the distance travelled been changing over the last two decades? In particular, is there much turnover in the basement, and do basement dwellers ever reach the penthouse? Who moves the most and how far? What are the factors associated with movements up and down the income tower over time? This book addresses such questions with extensive new analysis based on data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) covering 1991–2006, providing a comprehensive and original study of income mobility and poverty dynamics. There is detailed discussion of why longitudinal perspectives on the income distribution are of interest, and of the relevant concepts and measures. There is in-depth discussion of the BHPS and its household income data, and comparisons with other national and international longitudinal data sources. The book shows that patterns of income mobility in Britain have not changed over the last two decades but fewer people are persistently poor, and it discusses the reasons for these trends.