Browse IFS
Research topics
Publication types
Inequality, poverty and well-being
The distribution of income, consumption and wealth continues to be a central area of IFS research. Amongst the many aspects of our work in this area, we seek to chart, explain, and understand changes in inequality in wages, earnings, incomes and consumption, in the UK and other countries; we also seek to examine the effectiveness of a wide range of policies aimed at reducing poverty - including taxes and benefits, and other types of policy interventions - both at home and abroad.

Our research is also concerned with the welfare implications of changes both to inequality and poverty. These depend on how far they are caused by permanent changes in the relative standings of individuals in the income distribution (e.g. a change in the return to certain skills caused by technical progress) or by changes in the frequency of short-lived events (e.g. temporary layoffs), as well as the availability to individuals of specific insurance and other mechanisms to mitigate unexpected events.

 To get an idea of where you fit into the income distribution, try our interactive model, which will plot your position on the distributional graph. You can also download a spreadsheet containing some key figures about inequality.

See all current research projects for this subject

Search

Title (or part of title)
Author surname (or part of surname)

Year: 443 publications
27 April 2007
This evidence was submitted to the Treasury Select Committee as part of their Report on the 2007 Budget.
24 April 2007
Mike Brewer and Alastair Muriel
On 23 April 2007, the Department for Work and Pensions announced that an error had occurred when producing the latest Households Below Average Income publication.
01 April 2007
The author outlines defininitions and trends in child poverty.
28 March 2007
BN73
This Briefing Note provides an update on trends in living standards, income inequality and poverty.
28 March 2007
Alastair Muriel
This presentation was delivered at the IFS Briefing "Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2007" on 28th March 2007.
28 March 2007
This presentation was delivered at the IFS Briefing "Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2007" on 28th March 2007.
27 March 2007
Relative poverty has risen across the whole population for the first time since Labour came to power, with child poverty also rising for the first time in six years, according to official statistics released today on the distribution of income in 2005/06.
22 March 2007
Presentation given at the IFS post-Budget presentation, March 2007.
19 March 2007
This presentation considers what has happened to inequality and poverty in Great Britain over the past 25 years.
443 results    previous    1 | 2 | 3 | ... | 25 | 26 | 27 | ... | 43 | 44 | 45     next

Browse publications & research

Impact on Society
Research told policymakers that, despite greater expenditure on health care, Americans are less healthy than their English counterparts.
IFS researchers have monitored the extent to which some households experience higher rates of inflation than others.
The IFS has made valuable contributions to the debate on VAT and its impact on the poor.
The IFS played a key role in the debate about who the tax and benefit changes in recent ‘Emergency Budget’ hit hardest.
IFS analysis forms an important input into the public debate about child and pensioner poverty and what policies are best suited to tackle these.
IFS evaluated the Pathways to Work programme. This work proved key to the policy debate about how to get disability benefit claimants in work.
IFS researchers played an important role in the analysis underlying the findings of the National Equality Panel set up by the Labour Government.
Extensive research on inequality allowed us to develop an online model where users can plot their position in the income distribution.
IFS develops data on food prices and nutrition to build capacity for policy-relevant social science research.
In a tough economic climate IFS looks at how households are able to cope.
An IFS economist advised a “Citizens Jury” on the welfare system, including basic facts and important issues about its purpose and structure.
IFS researchers develop a model of the Mexican tax system that will be used by the Mexican Government analysts.
IFS researchers and the World Bank plan to develop capacity and tools in developing countries for the comprehensive analysis of tax reforms
IFS researchers have investigated whether it is possible to measure the distributional impact of changes to spending on public services.
IFS researchers have investigated the relative merits of government policies designed to protect elderly households from the coldest winters.