The UK is one of the most unequal countries in Western Europe, both in income and between places. Inequality rose rapidly in the 1980s, has stayed at high levels since and is now intertwined with geography: the rich, dynamic country of London and the South East lives alongside former industrial towns in the north, the Midlands, Wales and Scotland that never fully recovered from the closure of mines, steelworks and shipyards.
Income and poverty
According to official statistics, in 2024-25 about 13.4 million people, 20% of the population, lived in low-income households once housing costs were paid, including about 4 million children, more than one in four. In the big cities, and above all in London, child poverty is higher than elsewhere because rents erode even decent incomes. Food banks, almost unknown before 2010, now hand out millions of food parcels a year. Since April 2026 the government has abolished the two-child limit that denied benefits for third children, a measure experts expect to reduce child poverty significantly.
The north-south divide
Output per head in London is about twice that of the North East of England or Wales, one of the widest regional gaps in Europe. Median pay is about a third higher in the capital, but so are costs. The divide shows in health too: according to the ONS, the gap in male life expectancy between the richest and poorest areas of England approaches ten years, and the gap in years lived in good health is even larger. Scotland, and Glasgow in particular, has the lowest life expectancy in the country.
In recent years governments have launched several programmes to "rebalance" the country: the Conservatives' Levelling Up, the devolution of powers and funds to the mayors of big metropolitan areas such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham, and now the plan of prime minister Andy Burnham, former mayor of Manchester, who has opened a Downing Street office in the north and promises to move decisions and investment out of London.
Wealth
Wealth is even more unequally distributed than income: the richest 10% of households own almost half of total wealth, made up mainly of homes and private pensions. Housing has become the main driver of inequality between generations: those who bought before the 2000s have seen their wealth multiply, while many young people cannot stop renting without help from their parents, the so-called bank of mum and dad.
Education and social mobility
The education system reflects and feeds these differences: about 6-7% of pupils attend fee-paying private schools, but their former pupils hold a much larger share of top positions in politics, the judiciary, journalism and finance. Oxford and Cambridge remain a privileged route into the elite, although in recent years they have greatly increased the share of students from state schools. Since January 2025 private school fees have been subject to VAT.
Ethnic differences
The UK is a multi-ethnic society: at the 2021 census almost one in five people in England and Wales identified with a group other than "White British". Outcomes vary widely: some communities, such as Indian and Chinese Britons, have above-average incomes and education levels, while others, such as those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin, have higher poverty rates. See also population, wages and living in the UK.