Everyone Thinks They Live in Middle Britain

When asked to guess how close their pay is to average earnings, both rich and poor think they are closer to the average than they actually are, and underestimate just how big the difference between rich and poor is in Britain today, according to a TUC survey.

Since May when the TUC published its Touchstone pamphlet Life in the Middle: The Untold Story of Britain's Average Earners, the TUC has been running an online MiddleBritainometer, challenging people to guess where they fit on the UK's income scale.

The more than 2,000 respondents underestimated their position on average by 16 percentage points. On average people said that they earned slightly below median earnings, guessing that they came at 47 per cent on the income scale (thus earning more than 47 per cent of the population but less than the remaining 53 per cent).

But the average wage reported by people who took the test was £27,500 which puts them at 63 per cent on the income scale (63 per cent of the population earn less than this amount.)

Those earning over £35,000 made the biggest errors. These earnings put them in the top 20 per cent of earners (ie above 80 per cent on the income scale), but on average they guessed that they were 26 percentage points lower than they actually were.

Those earning significantly below median earnings of £20,000 thought they came higher in the income scale. Those earning under £10,000 a year (which puts them in the bottom 20 per cent of earners) thought that they came 13 percentage points higher on the income scale than they actually did.

People earning around median earnings of just under £21,000 thought that they earned less than average. Those earning just below (those actually coming between 40 per cent and 50 per cent on the income scale) guessed that they were 7 percentage points lower than they actually were. Those just above median earnings (50 per cent and 60 per cent on the income scale) guessed that they were 14 percentage points lower.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'It is depressing but perhaps not that surprising to learn that the rich think that they are poorer than they actually are. But we also find that people on really low wages don't appreciate just how badly off they are compared to other people. Everyone seems to think they live in Middle Britain, and that our country is more equal than it actually is.

'But when most commentators talk about Middle Britain they get it wrong, making the same mistake as the rich in our survey, thinking that people well up the income scale are in fact middle earners.

'For all the talk of Middle Britain being the key group that decide elections, they have not had a fair share of economic growth since 1979.

'If people knew the truth about just how unfairly distributed income and wealth is in Britain, then they would be angry.'

The TUC's Life in the Middle pamphlet showed that since 1979 the income of median earners has gone up by 60 per cent, while much bigger increases for the better-off have pushed up average earnings by 78 per cent. While median income fell behind far more under the Conservatives as society rapidly became more unequal, the gap has continued to grow if slowly under Labour.