Social Polarization in London: The Income Evidence, 1979-93

Abstract

Draws on data from the General Household Survey (GHS) on household incomes in GB & London between 1979 & 1993 to examine the existence of social polarization & inequality. It is noted that polarization in America is usually defined as shrinkage of the middle classes & growth at both the top & bottom of the occupational & earnings spectrum. Conversely, polarization in GB emphasizes a growing divide between a "comfortable middle mass of households with two or more earners & a residualized group with no earners." Analysis of GHS data at the household income level showed little evidence for the American model of polarization in GB but revealed a significant increase in income inequality between 1979-1993 in GB as a whole, & even more so in London, with most of the transfer occurring from the middle to the top end of the household income distribution. Dual income professional/managerial households were shown to be the most affluent. The negative effect of gender & ethnicity on differences in the median household income is discussed. 19 Tables. J. Lindroth