How much do the richest 1% in the UK receive?
Here, courtesy of the Centre for Economic Performance, is how the share of income going to the richest 1% has changed since the start of the last century:
It is notable that although 1979 clearly stands out as a turning point, 1997 does not. The trend just continues as before.
They also point out that it is not just Chief Executive and similar posts which have seen sharp pay increases:
Although Chief Executive pay gets much of the media attention, they point out that it is far from the whole story when it comes to looking at how the best paid have fared compared to everyone else. Their more detailed research findings as far as CEOs go presents a more nuanced picture than most: CEO pay falls when company performance falls they find, and rises when it rises. Although rises tend to be more generous than the cuts are severe, the difference is not the great – and sackings of CEOs increase when performance falls.
What they do stress is the role of the finance sector in increasing the share of income to the richest: “Top 1% got an extra 1.6% of the income pie: but this was almost all finance workers”. A similar pattern emerges across the top 10% – it is predominantly the finance sector which has been causing the increasing share of the income pie going to the top 10% and in that sector it is not simply CEOs that have been the cause but also the best paid traders.
As far as the politics of all this goes, MORI’s data from 2008 is central: “The higher your personal income, the more likely you are to under-estimate how well off you are compared to other people in Britain”.
Can someone explain, when you say the richest 1%, do you mean the richest 1% of workers, or the richest 1% of the population?
Peter – it's the population, i.e. including the unemployed, pensioners and so on (but not children).
Hmm..the Guardian and the BBC pay hikes in the last decade. Just like Polly Toynbee – hypocrites, do as I say, not do as I do. Different rules for the champagne socialists.
Poor Polly. She is undone, again.
How much do the richest 1% in the UK receive?: http://t.co/VGSyCUmx #bbc get the bunce plus #labour luvvies #news #bbcqt
Are these figures just salaries or do they include bonuses? Governor of the Bank of England is quite cheap, maybe the BBC Director General could 'shed a few pounds'. After all, the Bank has a much more crucial job than the BBC.
Francesca Montemaggi – I believe it is total pay (ie including bonus and other payments)
Over 10 yrs company CEOs pay increased 53%, Guardian Ed & BBC Dir Gen 80% -smashing capitlism pays better than doing it
http://t.co/gatmarli
This graph is 10 years out of date. The latest figures from the US show that the top 1% there take 22% of total income, the highest since just before the 1929 crash.
I don't think it's all 10 years out of date. But the CEO analysis is rendered a little pointless by stopping in 2008, before everyone crashed.