What it means: the Gini coefficient is the standard international measure of how unevenly income is shared. UK income inequality rose sharply in the 1980s and has changed little since the early 1990s. The solid line is income before housing costs; the fainter line is after housing costs, which shows more inequality because poorer households spend more of their income on rent. From 2021/22 the survey is linked to benefit and tax records. A change of one point or more counts.

Source: DWP, households below average income, table 1.2b, UK.