Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries

Child poverty is falling at a rapid rate in the UK but is still worryingly high, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's latest report into global poverty.

The reduction in child poverty over the past decade from 14 per cent to 10 per cent was the second largest fall, behind Italy, among developed countries over the past eight years. However, the rate is still far higher than during the 1970s, when it was around five per cent, and the mid-1980s, when it was around seven per cent.

Poverty is defined as income below half of the national median. Lack of social mobility in the UK is seen as a major barrier to reducing child poverty levels further. Even though the gap between rich and poor over the past eight years in the UK has fallen faster than in any other developed country, income inequality is still greater in the UK than in three-quarters of developed countries.