Crowd-sourcing info-graphics on UK inequality - get involved!
Graphs like this from the New York Times and this from Business Insider have been circulating all over Facebook, along with lots of other charts and info on how bad inequality has gotten in the United States.
I literally cannot log info Facebook without being hit with another graph that backs up the arguments made by the Occupy Wall Street movement. But 99% of these graphs relate to the United States. There is a dearth of info for the UK.
It’s time to remedy this.
I’m just going to put a list here of info and links people have sent me when I requested info:
- The Office of National Statistics has some info; another set
- Data from Danny Dorling’s book
Major sources of info:1
- One Society also focused on Inequality
- EHRC data: ‘How Fair in Britain?’
- New Economics Foundation, which has a new report coming out
- The Equality Trust
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Resolution Foundation: [report 1: figs 5, 9, 12, 16, 18 and 36) // report 2
So what do we need?
Well, for a start we need someone to find interesting info that can be turned into infographics (by tests forge richards). We need info that particularly stands out, or would look good as a graph contrasting with previous decades.
Second, we need people to help turn the info into pretty info-graphics. I’m willing to help with this bit, as I have my head in enough technical data already.
So come on leftie nerds - let’s do something useful than just come up with slogans eh?
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Filed in: Economics
There’s http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/table2-4.pdf which shows the share of both income taxes and total tax for different percentile groups. It might be somewhat detrimental to the Occupy campaign, though.
Interesting piece
However I am not convinced that graphs and facts backing up the argument are really going to make the difference you’re talking about.
My impression is that people who are at all interested anyway are already aware of the basic facts/stats with respect to inequality, wealth distribution and the arguments of the Equality Trust etc.
I think what is missing is a ‘unification’ of these issues - and mainstream leadership, political or otherwise, that argues an alternative that is credible not just left in its approach.
People I know in the US and Canada are united in the idea that there is something wrong with ‘the system’ but are fragmented as to what to do about it.
Having said that, I will add to the search for interesting info!
That New York Times graph is interesting, but just trying to follow all the different opinions of economists and the like on the news programmes is hard enough. In 1950 the population of the US was half of what it is today. It’s economy was totally different and so were that of it’s new competitors.
It’s too complex for me. And probably for most people too.
Surely Resolution Foundation is the best source. Ask them to provide the graphs; they probably already have them, although not in the reports you reference above.
UK graphs will have an excellent impact on the “undecided.” Any graph that shows the majority taking a smaller and smaller share of national wealth will do the job. That the type of economy we have has changed is not relevant.