Bankrupt Britain! Average UK household to be worse-off than Polish peers within DECADE

Last year the bottom five percent of UK households had disposable incomes 20 percent lower than some of their European counterparts.

By Ollie Corfe

11:05, Sun, Sep 25, 2022

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The rate of improvement in living standards in the UK has been lagging behind Europe for almost two decades. While the British rich are some of the most well-off in the world, persistently high income inequality has meant middle and low-income households in the UK are faring progressively worse than those in Europe.

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• According to data from Resolution Foundation’s latest Living Standards Audit, living standards in the UK have been slipping behind those of their rich European competitors for the past two decades.

In 2005, the UK’s adjusted median annual disposable income was higher than that of Germany and France, at £11,560 compared to £10,880 and £9,860 respectively.

• Following the financial crisis, by 2010 UK living standards had dipped below those of Germany, France and other European neighbours including Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

• As of 2018, income had grown 40 percent in Germany and 39.8 percent in France relative to 2005 levels. In the UK, it was just 9 percent higher.

Living standards for the average family are set to be higher in Poland than in the UK within a decad (Image: GETTY)

The top three percent of households in the UK earned roughly £84,000 on average last year – only slightly less than the wealthiest in Germany or Norway.

However, while the top earners in the UK rank fifth in world, the average household ranks 12th and those in the lowest five percent income bracket rank 15th, according to OECD data.

In comparison, in Norway, the top 10 percent, the average household and the bottom five percent all rank second in the world in terms of living standards.

A decade after the financial crisis and a year after the pandemic, the lowest-earning households in Britain had a standard of living 20 percent lower those in Slovenia – despite the UK economy being 50 times larger.

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