This paper proposes, using kernal density estimation methods, to investigate the shrinking middle class hypothesis. The approach reveals striking new evidence of changes in the concentration of middle incomes in the U.K. during the 1980s. Breakdowns by family economic status demonstrate that a...

The UK income distribution changed its shape dramatically during the 1980s. This paper documents the trends and summarises research about their causes. It also comments on research methodologies and data sets and points to future research directions. The paper concludes by considering what...

This paper reviews trends over the last three decades in the personal distribution of income in the UK. The first section of the paper documents the trends from a number of different perspectives (inequality, poverty and real income growth). Later sections explore the causes of the large...

This paper uses the first four waves (1991-4) of the British Household Panel Survey to chart patterns of labour market transition for men and women. We examine movements into and out of part-time employment, full-time employment, unemployment and out of the labour force. In particular, we...

Using data from the first five waves of the British Household Panel Survey, we examine the extent and determinants of residential mobility for persons aged 55 years or older, plus the subsequent housing adjustments made by those who move. The dimensions of adjustment examined are house value and...

This paper uses kernel density estimation on Current Population Survey data from the United States and Family Expenditure Survey data from the United Kingdom to describe the distribution of household size-adjusted real income in 1979 and how it changed over the next decade. It confirms previous...

We provide new evidence about what happens to peoples incomes when their or their parents marital union dissolves, using longitudinal data from waves 1-4 of the British Household Panel Survey. Marital splits are associated with substantial declines in real income for separating wives and...

This paper provides new evidence about income mobility and poverty dynamics in 1990s Britain using data from the first four waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). After describing our data and definitions used (Section 2), we document the degree and pattern of income mobility...

The European Community Household Panel survey (ECHP) is an important new innovation in the European statistical system. The paper argues that, in order to best realise the ECHPs potential, its unit record (micro) data should be made freely available to suitably registered non-commercial users....