IFS report; very slight fall in income for only a few under Labour

The IFS has reported that 'mean' income in the UK fell by a whopping 0.2% (in real terms) during the years 2002/03 and 2003/04; falling from £409 per week to £408 per week in 2004 prices.

Wow, eh?

The 1% rise in national insurance ended up costing so little, eh?

The IFS partly attributed the fall in average income to the tax and national rises in the 2002 Budget.
The report also said that the biggest above-inflation increases in council tax to date under the current government reduced average incomes by a further 0.3%.

However, the IFS found that the incomes of poorer households were boosted in 2003/04, largely due to the introduction of child tax credit and working tax credit, which the report described as "more generous" than the credits and benefits they replaced.

The report found that the new tax credits had helped to reduce income inequality for the third successive year. The IFS reported that the incomes of the poorest fifth of households rose by around 1% in 2003.04, while the income of the richest fifth of households fell by around 1%.

It should be noted that the IFS does not talk about 'median' incomes (the measure that counts the position for most without the distortions of the UK's ultra high income earners and the very low).

Using median figures the gov can point to a rise in income for almost all in the years in question - something which in any case has happened for all income groups since 1997.

[url]http://www.4rfv.co.uk/nationalnews.asp?id=39017

It's by no means nirvana but with UK incomes barely affected and the public services begining to show such obvious signs of positive turn-around now I think may 5th might just be an almighty win for Labour, despite the Iraqi war.....

.....and compared to the tory record?

(and everyone knows it)

Mind you, were it not for the Iraqi war Labour would probably be looking at possibly the biggest win yet in a British general election, hmm?


[edit on 31-3-2005 by sminkeypinkey]