Chris J. Perry is a former Director of Social Services, a former Non-Executive Director of a Health Care Trust, and former Director of Age Concern Hampshire.
Never a day goes by, or so it seems, without mention of the cost of living crisis and programmes on the television helping people to make their money go further.
And yet according to the new Forbes billionaire list Elon Musk added $373.5billion dollars (or £373.5billion) to his fortune in just one year. That is £3.5bn more than the £370bn it was estimated the entire COVID pandemic cost the UK. And according to the Equality Trust, this is the biggest ever increase in one year with Elon Musk’s total worth now the 22nd largest economy in the world, beating Belgium. According to Oxfam global billionaire wealth increased by £1.5 trillion in 2024. In contrast according to the Office of National Statistics the median household income in the UK for the year ending 2023 was £34,500. This was a 2.5 per cent decrease on the previous year
Widening income inequality and increasing poverty are the great social evils of our time and the root cause of so many of today’s problems.
It will, therefore, be very difficult for the Government to achieve its objectives whilst operating within the present system and abiding by the rules when it is the system itself which needs changing.
Unless Government addresses pay differentials, bonuses and excessive profits within the larger corporations, utilities and banks, chasing inward investment in search of growth will make the rich richer and create low paid jobs for the masses as it has for at least 40 years. There needs to be a fairer distribution of income within organisations so that everyone gets a fair and proportionate return for their hard work. Extensive studies by the Equality Trust have found that people are becoming increasingly aware that the economy is a human-made system that can be changed,
According to a recent study by Christopher Hoy, of the world bank, people tend to dramatically underestimate wage inequalities.
The study interviewed 9000 people in 8 countries who grossly underestimated the ratio of Chief Executives pay in the larger corporations, banks and utilities to the average pay of their employees believing it to be 18 times higher and wanted it to be 5 times. When told it could be as much as 269 times surprisingly it was the far-right voters who altered their views about redistribution the most.
Even in Japan with the lowest ration of 59 times, people thought it was 8 and wanted it to be 5. This is the result of the study and I am not advocating ratios as low as these. Chief Executives could still have their million pound salaries of they paid their employees proportionately. People could still get rich on their own merits through royalties and ticket sales for example. But where large companies are concerned there is a need to avoid excessive profiteering at the expense of customers and share rewards fairly and proportionately amongst those on whose hard work, they depend.
The effect of this, what can only be described as greed, is clear for all to see,
In April 2024 there were 4.5m children being brought up in poverty, 70 per cent of whom had a parent in work. Although the removal of the two-child cap on child benefit will help it should never have been imposed in the first place as it is a child and not a parent benefit. And although the provision of free school meals is to be welcomed this will not reduce child poverty. The official definition of poverty is an income of less than 60 per cent of median household income. Free school meals are not an income which is available if the child is off school. Food banks help low-income families but do not lift them out of poverty and may well add to their labelling, stigma and lack of self-worth.
In March 2023 there were 107,317 children in the care of the local authority in the UK – the highest number ever. In December 2023 112,660 homeless households were living in temporary accommodation in England with an estimated 4,266 people sleeping rough. According to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government there were 634,453 empty houses in England in October 2018 with 8.4m people living in single person households.
A recent petition on the Number 10 Website, which closed with 70,000 signatures called upon the Government to raise the personal tax-free personal allowance from the current £12,570 to £20,000 per year. And this was in the Reform UK election manifesto. Although this would help a great number of people it would be a short-term quick fix. How much better to fix it at 60 per cent of median household income (which according to the ONS would currently be £20,700) so that it automatically increases each year and no one living in poverty ever has to pay income tax again. According to HMRC there were 29,000 people being paid over £1m per year in the UK in 2023 /24 and yet the top 45 per cent income tax threshold (and loss of personal allowance) cuts in at £125,140. Therefore, there should be room for adjustment (or the introduction of higher tax bands) to make this cost neural in the interest of fairness
The removal of the standing charge from energy bills and spreading it across the unit charge possibly increasing the higher the consumption would also help the lower paid.
Britain has one of the lowest State Pensions in the developed world with 2m older people living in poverty. Many of whom, if they retired before the abolition of the “default retirement age”, by David Cameron’s Government in 2012, were forced into retirement and condemned to spending the rest of their lives in poverty. Older people got no benefit from the two pre-election cuts in National Insurance, recently lost their free television licence and some their winter fuel allowance but have to pay more income tax due to the freezing of the tax-free allowance. In consequence after ten years of catching up, due to the “triple lock”, older people have again fallen behind their 2020 comparison with earnings.
Given the wealth of empirical evidence into the social determinants of health which has demonstrated the correlation between low income and health unless Government addresses this widening income inequality the NHS will not keep pace with demand and will always be playing catch up. Governments cannot go on throwing more money at the first aid camp at the bottom of the cliff without building a fence at the top. Treating the symptom not the cause.
Older people account for approximately 70 per cent of the expenditure of the NHS. To raise the State Pension to 60 per cent of median household income to lift all older people out of poverty would improve their quality of life, reduce demand upon the NHS and mean that if they did need long term care applying the same financial assessment which has been in place since the 1948 National assistance Act under CRAG they would be able to pay more reducing the cost to local authorities and mean that their capital and house would no longer need to be taken into account.
For decades we have been hearing about the demographic time bomb labelling older people as a drain on the economy when the majority of volunteers, unpaid carers, trustees and unpaid child minders are older people. Older people paid tax and National Insurance in the belief they would be looked after from cradle to grave, supported their parents and continue to support their children and grandchildren.
The NHS and social care are in crisis and in need of radical reform, restructuring and cultural change based upon a whole systems approach to liberate the hardworking professionals from the constraining contract culture into an enabling leadership one. According to a survey by The Times in 2025 there were on average 13,600 people a day in hospital awaiting social care. Social care needs to move from a “minding” to a “mending” service. Social Work is under-valued and social workers misused.
One cannot resolve whole-systems problems with component level solutions.
Perhaps Government could do an income inequality and poverty audit on all it does to ensure it is reducing and not increasing them.
Chris J. Perry is a former Director of Social Services, a former Non-Executive Director of a Health Care Trust, and former Director of Age Concern Hampshire.
Never a day goes by, or so it seems, without mention of the cost of living crisis and programmes on the television helping people to make their money go further.
And yet according to the new Forbes billionaire list Elon Musk added $373.5billion dollars (or £373.5billion) to his fortune in just one year. That is £3.5bn more than the £370bn it was estimated the entire COVID pandemic cost the UK. And according to the Equality Trust, this is the biggest ever increase in one year with Elon Musk’s total worth now the 22nd largest economy in the world, beating Belgium. According to Oxfam global billionaire wealth increased by £1.5 trillion in 2024. In contrast according to the Office of National Statistics the median household income in the UK for the year ending 2023 was £34,500. This was a 2.5 per cent decrease on the previous year
Widening income inequality and increasing poverty are the great social evils of our time and the root cause of so many of today’s problems.
It will, therefore, be very difficult for the Government to achieve its objectives whilst operating within the present system and abiding by the rules when it is the system itself which needs changing.
Unless Government addresses pay differentials, bonuses and excessive profits within the larger corporations, utilities and banks, chasing inward investment in search of growth will make the rich richer and create low paid jobs for the masses as it has for at least 40 years. There needs to be a fairer distribution of income within organisations so that everyone gets a fair and proportionate return for their hard work. Extensive studies by the Equality Trust have found that people are becoming increasingly aware that the economy is a human-made system that can be changed,
According to a recent study by Christopher Hoy, of the world bank, people tend to dramatically underestimate wage inequalities.
The study interviewed 9000 people in 8 countries who grossly underestimated the ratio of Chief Executives pay in the larger corporations, banks and utilities to the average pay of their employees believing it to be 18 times higher and wanted it to be 5 times. When told it could be as much as 269 times surprisingly it was the far-right voters who altered their views about redistribution the most.
Even in Japan with the lowest ration of 59 times, people thought it was 8 and wanted it to be 5. This is the result of the study and I am not advocating ratios as low as these. Chief Executives could still have their million pound salaries of they paid their employees proportionately. People could still get rich on their own merits through royalties and ticket sales for example. But where large companies are concerned there is a need to avoid excessive profiteering at the expense of customers and share rewards fairly and proportionately amongst those on whose hard work, they depend.
The effect of this, what can only be described as greed, is clear for all to see,
In April 2024 there were 4.5m children being brought up in poverty, 70 per cent of whom had a parent in work. Although the removal of the two-child cap on child benefit will help it should never have been imposed in the first place as it is a child and not a parent benefit. And although the provision of free school meals is to be welcomed this will not reduce child poverty. The official definition of poverty is an income of less than 60 per cent of median household income. Free school meals are not an income which is available if the child is off school. Food banks help low-income families but do not lift them out of poverty and may well add to their labelling, stigma and lack of self-worth.
In March 2023 there were 107,317 children in the care of the local authority in the UK – the highest number ever. In December 2023 112,660 homeless households were living in temporary accommodation in England with an estimated 4,266 people sleeping rough. According to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government there were 634,453 empty houses in England in October 2018 with 8.4m people living in single person households.
A recent petition on the Number 10 Website, which closed with 70,000 signatures called upon the Government to raise the personal tax-free personal allowance from the current £12,570 to £20,000 per year. And this was in the Reform UK election manifesto. Although this would help a great number of people it would be a short-term quick fix. How much better to fix it at 60 per cent of median household income (which according to the ONS would currently be £20,700) so that it automatically increases each year and no one living in poverty ever has to pay income tax again. According to HMRC there were 29,000 people being paid over £1m per year in the UK in 2023 /24 and yet the top 45 per cent income tax threshold (and loss of personal allowance) cuts in at £125,140. Therefore, there should be room for adjustment (or the introduction of higher tax bands) to make this cost neural in the interest of fairness
The removal of the standing charge from energy bills and spreading it across the unit charge possibly increasing the higher the consumption would also help the lower paid.
Britain has one of the lowest State Pensions in the developed world with 2m older people living in poverty. Many of whom, if they retired before the abolition of the “default retirement age”, by David Cameron’s Government in 2012, were forced into retirement and condemned to spending the rest of their lives in poverty. Older people got no benefit from the two pre-election cuts in National Insurance, recently lost their free television licence and some their winter fuel allowance but have to pay more income tax due to the freezing of the tax-free allowance. In consequence after ten years of catching up, due to the “triple lock”, older people have again fallen behind their 2020 comparison with earnings.
Given the wealth of empirical evidence into the social determinants of health which has demonstrated the correlation between low income and health unless Government addresses this widening income inequality the NHS will not keep pace with demand and will always be playing catch up. Governments cannot go on throwing more money at the first aid camp at the bottom of the cliff without building a fence at the top. Treating the symptom not the cause.
Older people account for approximately 70 per cent of the expenditure of the NHS. To raise the State Pension to 60 per cent of median household income to lift all older people out of poverty would improve their quality of life, reduce demand upon the NHS and mean that if they did need long term care applying the same financial assessment which has been in place since the 1948 National assistance Act under CRAG they would be able to pay more reducing the cost to local authorities and mean that their capital and house would no longer need to be taken into account.
For decades we have been hearing about the demographic time bomb labelling older people as a drain on the economy when the majority of volunteers, unpaid carers, trustees and unpaid child minders are older people. Older people paid tax and National Insurance in the belief they would be looked after from cradle to grave, supported their parents and continue to support their children and grandchildren.
The NHS and social care are in crisis and in need of radical reform, restructuring and cultural change based upon a whole systems approach to liberate the hardworking professionals from the constraining contract culture into an enabling leadership one. According to a survey by The Times in 2025 there were on average 13,600 people a day in hospital awaiting social care. Social care needs to move from a “minding” to a “mending” service. Social Work is under-valued and social workers misused.
One cannot resolve whole-systems problems with component level solutions.
Perhaps Government could do an income inequality and poverty audit on all it does to ensure it is reducing and not increasing them.