I’m writing this before the new Prime Minister takes office. Like many people, I have hopes about what Andy Burnham will do and how he will lead the country.
My biggest hope is that he makes tackling the cost of living his top priority. Too many people have been struggling for far too long. For some, that means cutting back on meals out or trips to the pub. For others, it is far more fundamental. Poverty means poorer health, worse housing, fewer educational opportunities and, ultimately, shorter lives.
This morning, the High Pay Centre published its annual report on executive pay. It found that the average chief executive of a FTSE 100 company now earns around 130 times more than the average UK worker. The median pay package for a FTSE 100 chief executive exceeds £5 million a year, while the boss of AstraZeneca received almost £17 million.
Executive pay rose by an average of 8.6% over the past year, compared with wage growth of 3.6% for workers. The gap between those at the top and everyone else continues to widen. It becomes even more stark when you look at accumulated wealth, such as property, investments and other assets. By that measure, the UK’s wealth inequality is second only to that of the United States.
The 50 wealthiest people in the UK now own more wealth than the poorest half of the population combined.
We need to find a way to address this imbalance. There is more than enough wealth in this country to ensure everyone has a decent standard of living. Levels of inequality on this scale are not only unfair; they are damaging to our health, our communities and our economy.
This is not a problem that can be solved in a year or two. But it is one that demands action. If we want to build a healthier, fairer and more prosperous country, reducing inequality has to be part of the solution.
