The distribution of UK household expenditure, 1979-92

The rapid growth in income inequality in the UK over the 1980s has excited a good deal of interest and concern. A primary reason for this concern has been the widely- drawn conclusion that the living standards of the very poorest have at best failed to keep pace with the living standards of the rest of society. This report sheds new light on the living standards debate, by considering how household expenditure has changed over the period 1979-92. Examination of the expenditure of households appearing in the Family Expenditure Surveys of 1979-92 reveals some rather different trends from the well-documented changes in household incomes.