The debate about geographical inequality in the UK is never far from the headlines.
How big are inequalities in work and pay? Why are there such large gaps? Can the levelling up agenda fix these problems?
Related content
Authors
Xiaowei Xu
Senior Research Economist
Xiaowei joined the IFS in 2018 and works in the Income, Work and Welfare sector.
Explainer details
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Xu, X. (2022). Levelling up: geographical inequality in the UK explained [Explainer] IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/articles/levelling-geographical-inequality-uk-explained (accessed: 9 May 2024).
More from IFS
Understand this issue
Public investment: what you need to know
explainer
Everything you wanted to know about UK public investment but were too afraid to ask – including analysis of Labour and Conservative plans.
25 April 2024
If you can’t see it, you can’t be it: role models influence female junior doctors’ choice of medical specialty
comment
Working alongside a greater share of senior women specialists during an early-career placement influences junior women’s own specialty choice.
24 April 2024
Sure Start achieved its aims, then we threw it away
comment
"We know that poor children grow up with poor life chances. We know how to ameliorate that. The choice is ours." Paul Johnson writes for the Times.
15 April 2024
Policy analysis
The short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on educational outcomes
report
We study the medium-run effect of Sure Start on academic outcomes, finding large benefits, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
9 April 2024
Progression of nurses within the NHS
report
This report examines the career progression of NHS nurses, how this compares with that of other NHS staff groups and how this has changed over time.
12 April 2024
Regional variation in earnings and the retention of NHS staff in Agenda for Change bands 1 to 4
report
We examine the association between local pay and retention of NHS hospital and community staff in pay bands 1 to 4 of the Agenda for Change framework.
10 April 2024
Academic research
Labour market inequality and the changing life cycle profile of male and female wages
working paper
We estimate the distribution of life cycle wages for cohorts of prime-age men and women in the US.
15 April 2024
Interpreting cohort profiles of lifecycle earnings volatility
working paper
We present new estimates of earnings volatility over time and the lifecycle for men and women by race and human capital.
15 April 2024
There and back again: women’s marginal commuting costs
working paper
We estimate female and male workers’ marginal willingness to pay to reduce commuting distance in Germany.
2 April 2024