Charts of the Day: Thatcher vs. Blair

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Here’s a fascinating little chart courtesy of Thomas Forth. It shows income inequality in the UK (on the vertical axis) vs. growth in disposable income (horizontal axis). Here it is for the poor:

In the go-go 80s under Thatcher, the poor made no progress at all. Under Blair, their disposable income increased from about £9,000 to £12,000. But what about the well-off? They probably did great under Thatcher and then got the shaft under Blair. Let’s look:

Under Thatcher, the well-off did indeed prosper. Incomes of the 95th percentile went up from £23,000 to £37,000. Under Blair they went up from £42,000 to £58,000.

So under Thatcher the poor got nothing and the well-off saw their incomes rise by about 60 percent. Under Blair, the poor did pretty well and the well-off saw their incomes rise by about 40 percent. Choose which country you’d rather live in.

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And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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