Social divisions

Social divisions

The gap between the rich and the poor

- Thatcher is often criticised for widening the gap between the rich and the poor

- The shift to regressive taxation meant the poor paid a higher proportion of their income than the rich 

- Privatisation benefited the more financially astute middle and upper classes more than the working classes

- Measures used to cut inflation only led to reducing public spending on the poor and fuelled unemployment in manufacturing industries 

- Uneven benefits from reduced taxation = in 1989 the bottom 10% paid £400 million less in income tax than they had in 1979 while the top 10% paid £9.3 billion less than they had

- The percentage of pensioners living below the poverty line increased from 13% to 43%

- Cuts to welfare spending meant Supplementary Benefit (Income Support) was worth 51% of average earnings in 1987, down from 63% in 1978 

- Cuts to housing benefit also contributed to…