Debates over economic inequality are often at the centre of political discussion and a focus of society more widely. Arguments centre on questions about the extent to which people should be able to keep the money they earn or gain in other ways, and to what extent (and in which ways) the government should redistribute resources to those who are less well-off. Debates in these areas have increased since the global financial crisis of 2008, after which incomes have grown very slowly in many advanced economies.
In the last few years there has been an explosion of new economic research and policy interest in relation to intergenerational mobility — the degree to which someone’s upbringing determines their later-life job prospects, income and economic status. When she became the UK’s prime minister, Theresa May used her first speech to declare that, ‘When it comes to opportunity, we won’t entrench the advantages of the fortunate few, we will do everything we can to help anybody, whatever your background, to go as far as your talents will take you.’
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