Average UK household £8,800 a year worse off than those in France or Germany
The UK’s failure to get serious about inequality and weak growth over the past 15 years has left the average British household £8,800 poorer than its equivalent in five comparable countries, research has found.
A “toxic combination” of poor productivity and a failure to narrow the divide between rich and poor had resulted in a widening prosperity gap with France, Germany, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, the report from the Resolution Foundation said.
The thinktank said that if the UK matched the average income and inequality levels of those countries, typical household incomes in Britain would be a third higher and those of the poorest households two-fifths greater.
Its chief executive, Torsten Bell, said: “Britain is a rich country, with huge economic and cultural strengths. But those strengths are not being built on with the recent record of low growth leaving Britain trailing behind its peers.
“This forms a toxic combination with the UK’s high inequality, leaving low- and middle-income households far poorer than their counterparts in similar countries.
“We must turn this around, but we are not on track to do so. We underestimate the scale of our relative decline and are far from serious about the nature of our economy or the scale of change required to make a difference. This has to change.”
The foundation’s report – Stagnation Nation – coincided with calls from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Treasury select committee for the government to produce a coherent growth strategy.
In an open letter to ministers, the CBI director general, Tony Danker, took a sideswipe at the tax-cut bidding war being conducted by the Tory party contenders to replace Boris Johnson, urging the candidates to show how growth
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