IFS Deaton Review Finds Large Geographic and Income Gaps in UK Health, Earnings and Wealth

A protest against inequality, polluters and climate change took place outside the Houses of Parliament in London on November 24, 2025. The demonstration reflected public concern over findings contained in a major study released months earlier. In 2025 a man born in Blackpool had a healthy life expectancy of 51 years while his counterpart born in Richmond could expect 69 years of good health.

These figures formed part of the IFS Deaton Review published in late April after six years of research by economists, sociologists and public health experts for the Nuffield Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The bottom 10% of British people earned no more than £11,800 per year compared with £69,500 for the top 10%.

Richard Blundell, a professor of political economy at University College London who participated in the study, said the aim was to examine inequality in the UK across several indicators.

"We realized the UK is one of the most unequal countries in the world," Blundell stated. The UK's Gini coefficient is the worst among all G7 countries except the US. Compared with the European Union, only Lithuania and Latvia have a worse Gini coefficient than the UK.

"Inequality is particularly pronounced at the top of the income pyramid," Blundell said. The top 1% of earners captured 15% of all taxable income in the 2018-2019 financial year, more than the bottom 55% of earners combined. The top 1% also owned 20% of all household wealth in the UK.

7 trillion according to the Office for National Statistics and was the lowest share among G7 countries. "This mostly relates to housing," Blundell said, noting a growth in intergenerational inequality with young people unable to get on the property ladder while their parents' generation benefited from rising housing prices. More than £100 billion is allocated to welfare every year.

Blundell said households with modest incomes benefit from a relatively generous system of government support, progressive taxation and several consecutive increases in the minimum wage. This has allowed them to partially catch up with their wealthier peers, he added.

"London and the southeast of England are home to the highest-paying jobs in technology, finance, and high-value services," Blundell said.

In contrast, central and northern regions have seen industrial jobs lost in the 1970s and 1980s replaced by poorly paid positions in logistics, catering or construction. Life expectancy is lower in those areas while rates of obesity, diabetes and poor mental health are higher.

The IFS Deaton Review authors proposed taxing capital gains and inheritances more heavily along with a one-off wealth tax rather than a recurring one.

"This would improve wealth redistribution," Blundell said. To reduce regional inequalities they called for new innovation clusters outside London, particularly in the north of England, through improved skills training, expanded transport networks and development of local start-up and venture capital ecosystems.

"the aim is to create good jobs, with a decent salary, but also career progression opportunities and a good work-life balance," Blundell said.

Le Monde reported on the full findings and recommendations of the IFS Deaton Review.