ABSTRACT
Contrary to statements by many government ministers, the latest evidence from official sources shows a fall in the real living standards of the poorest groups in the population during the last decade. The Family Expenditure Survey reports for 1988 and 1989 confirm changes in the decade since 1979. They demonstrate the continuing polarisation or ‘growing divide’ of the real incomes of the rich and poor in the population. But they also show that the real income of the poor actually fell in this decade.
