ABSTRACT

In this chapter we shall discuss our methods of measuring the redistribution of income in the United Kingdom and describe some of the results, but it may be helpful first to say something about the definition of redistribution. For the present we should like to take the definition of income as read, although it is certainly not without problems. We shall also assume that ‘redistribution’ means redistribution through public finance and does not include voluntary transfers. The first question we wish to examine is the choice of the basic unit of population: redistribution between whom?