East Mids wages “same as south-east in 1990s”

Wages in the East Midlands are at the same levels as they were in the south-east in the 1990s, according to a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The report shows that average income in the highest-income region of Great Britain (south east) is around 25% higher than that in the poorest region (West Midlands), with the consequence that incomes in the West Midlands (and in fact the East Midlands, Wales and the North of England) are no higher than incomes were in the South East in the late 1990s.

The report also shows that the Midlands have seen the slowest growth in average incomes over the last 40 years. Having had slightly higher incomes than average in the mid 1970s, average incomes in the East and West Midlands are now 6% and 9% below the national average respectively. Incomes in Wales and the North of England are also slightly further below average than was the case 40 years ago.

Agnes Norris Keiller, a research economist at IFS and an author of the report said:  “There are important gaps between the average incomes of different regions, though inequalities within regions are far larger than those between them. While London remains the most unequal part of the country, inequality in the capital has seen a dramatic decline over the last decade.”

Robert Joyce, an associate director at IFS and another author of the report, said: “Although the post-recession years have seen modest income growth, with little change in poverty rates and inequality, many people have seen large changes in their incomes. Fluctuating incomes mean that many fewer people are classed as persistently poor than have a low income at any point in time.”

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