Incomes in the U.K. and Scotland in 1949‐50 and 1954‐55: Change and Contrast
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.1957.tb00236.x |
| Published date | 01 November 1957 |
| Date | 01 November 1957 |
RECENT ECONOMIC TRENDS
INCOMES
IN
THE
U.K.
AND
SCOTLAND
IN
1949-50
AND
1954-55:
CHANGE
AND
CONTRAST
FIVE
years ago the Commissioners of Inland Revenue produced, in
the form
of
an Income Census for the
tax
year
1949-50,
much more
adequate information than had previously been available
on
the pattern
of
incomes passing through (and sometimes sticking to
!
)
their hands.
This Census has now been repeated for
1954-55,
and the first results
are available in the most recent
(99th)
Report
of
the Commissioners.
Wage and salary payments had the best
of
the income changes in
these five years. Net income in total increased by
39
per
cent. during
the five-year period, but investment income from property, interest
and dividends grew only by
21
per cent., while earned income from
all sources grew by
41
per cent..
In
the latter type of income, wages
and salaries (including pensions and other Schedule
E
incomes),
increased in total by
46
per cent.; but professional incomes (from fees
rather than salaries) and trading profits only grew by
18
per
cent.
Wage, salary and pension payments to males, averaged over all male
incomes of this type assessed, increased by
38
per cent. from
E374
in
1949-50
to
€518
in
1954-55.
Married men gained more than single
men (including widowers), since their average wage and salary income
increased by
40
per cent. while that
of
single men increased by
31
per cent. Average wages and salaries
of
single women (including
widows) rose by
30
per cent.
In
the cases of single men and women,
however, the smaller increases may well be due to the larger proportion
of
pensioners, as well as juveniles, in the totals. Reliance
on
invest-
ment income differed widely. For example, only
6.2
per cent.
of
the
total net income
of
married couples came from investments in
1954-55,
compared with
24.2
per cent. for single women and widows.
By
1954-55
many fewer assessed incomes were recorded
in
the
groups below
€300
and more were recorded above
€1,000.
Over half
of the total number
of
incomes assessed were between
€400
and
€1,000
as against about a quarter in
1949-50.
In
1949-50
the median
income
of
the distribution was
€308.
In
1954-55
this had risen by
47
per cent. to
€452,
while the lower quartile had increased by
38
per cent., and the upper by
45
per cent. People in the middle ranges
seem to have done substantially better than those at the lower end (a
group which doubtless includes many pensioners) and slightly better
than those at the top end.
230
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