Growth And Cutting Inequality Must Go Hand In Hand For Labour

25th July 2024

"Labour's manifesto may barely mention it, but consideration of inequality must nevertheless be at the heart of its agenda." Paul Johnson in the FT.

"Growth" got 49 mentions in the 130-page Labour manifesto, leaving no doubt about where the party aims to find answers to the many problems it's inherited. Contrastingly, "inequality" appeared just once. This is notable, given not only party history, but also public attitudes. There is plenty of evidence that concern about inequalities is high and has grown since 2010.

That said, the two are inextricably related. Over the past 15 years incomes and earnings have grown at a feeble rate. Income inequality between rich and poor has, if anything, fallen slightly. But the slow growth, accompanied by mostly ultra-low interest rates, has driven another kind of inequality. It penalises younger generations relative to older groups, who had accumulated wealth before growth stopped. And it changes the determinants of inequality: young people are more dependent on the economic position of their parents, over which they have no control, than in many generations.

Read the full article at the IFS HERE