Mind the gap
February 9th, 2010 by Charlotte Morris Posted in Attitudes, Inequality, UK poverty
Charlotte Morris, press officer for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Like all good press officers, I listen to the Today programme every morning. This morning I heard two things I had heard already. The first was an interview with the RSPB – how often are they on the Today programme? I’m sure it’s at least once a week. Who knew there was so much to say about birds? They must have a fantastic press office.
The second was that the inequality gap is now the widest it has been since the end of the second world war. The JRF published research on this more than two years ago; we found that inequality was at a 40 year high – in fact I’m fairly sure today’s headline on the BBC website is exactly the same as it was back in July 2007.
Some ask why the inequality gap is important at all. I guess that it comes down to what kind of society we want to live in – one where everyone has the same opportunities at birth, or one where the accident of who you are born to means your future is pretty much mapped out for you . It’s confusing though, as what is supposed to happen to people at the top? I can’t see doctors’ and lawyers’ children suddenly all taking blue collar jobs.
With an election coming up, all the parties are focusing on what they will do about the inequality gap. There is a general feeling that people should be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, Duncan Banatyne’s autobiography is called “Anyone can do it”. But it’s not true. As John Hills points out today, the ladder is harder to climb as the gaps between the rungs get wider.
So should we be trying to stop the rich getting richer or should we be trying to help more people out of poverty? The answer is probably a bit of both, but JRF is particularly interested in understanding why poor people are poor, and what can be done about that.
We know that inequality is not inevitable; plenty of countries have a much smaller inequality gap. However, narrowing the gap is a long process and requires commitment not just from governments, but from all of us.
PS – if anyone from the RSPB is reading, I’m just jealous!
One Response to “Mind the gap”
By Nelson on Feb 14, 2010
This article seems to equate poverty with inequality. I think there’s sound reason to do so. If, however, this is JRF’s view, it seems odd not be be as concerned with ‘why rich people are rich, and what we can do about that’ as with a focus on the poor. Surely, with the inequality analysis of poverty, rich and poor are just different sides of the same coin.
An analogy might be to wonder why a tossed coin comes up heads as frequently as it does, but not being interested in why it comes up tails at all.
By only focusing on why poor people are poor, and what can be done about that, it’s all too easy (even unwittingly) to fall into a trap of saying that what’s needed is for poor people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
Surely the solution lies in that word that it seems neither government or NGOs seem to be willing to use any more – redistribution. If this isn’t the commitment required from government and all of us, what is? What’s the solution to inequality that doesn’t involve an analysis of the wealthy?