Poverty in the U.K.: A Comparison with Nineteen Other Countries

This paper compares poverty in the U.K. with 19 other countries. It is of particular interest because it uses the third wave of LIS data (early 1990 time period) and because it includes a number of of transitional economies as well as Taiwan. The main finding of this paper is that the overall pre-transfer poverty rate for the U.K. is the fifth highest our of the 20 countries and is relatively high for lone parents and couples with children. The result of direct taxes and social security benefits is to reduce the poverty rate but leaves the U.K. with the third highest, next only to the U.S. and Russia. In addition, poverty rates have increased more in the U.K. during the 1990's than other countries studied.