Research indicates the gap between rich and poor is narrower in the North.
The gap between rich and poor is narrower in the North than in southern regions of England, with Yorkshire and the Humber seeing the lowest level of inequality, research has indicated.
However, the researchers warned that the gap is increasing as the pay of those at the top rises faster than for those at the bottom.
Yorkshire and the Humber has the lowest level of income inequality in England, with the top 20% of earners bringing in £390 more a week than the bottom fifth of earners, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research North.
However, the research found that economic growth in the North before the recession had led to increasing pay inequality in the region, with the incomes of the richest fifth of people growing at around twice the rate of the poorest 20%.
Ed Cox, director of IPPR North, said: “Currently, it is fairer up North, with income and pay inequality lower than the UK average, particularly when compared to London and the South East. But over the past decade of economic growth before recession hit, inequality increased in the North.”
The group said that while many of the ways of tackling inequality were controlled by central government, such as tax and benefit policies and setting the minimum wage, there were things that could be done at a local level.
These include calculating a living wage for local areas and urging firms to ensure minimum wages are in line with it, as well as encouraging employers to sign up to pay ratio schemes, under which top paid staff cannot receive incomes of more than 20 times those received by the lowest paid staff.
