EXPERT HUB – POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS: INEQUALITY AND THE TOP 10% IN EUROPE

by: Inclusive Growth Contributor | on: 09.10.23 | in: Uncategorised tags: inclusive growth

Submitted by Dr Gerry Mitchell

These policy recommendations are based on independent research conducted on the top 10% of the income distribution in the UK, Sweden, Spain and Ireland by TASC and its partner organisations, Compass; Arena Idé and Fundación Alternativas. The research consisted of both quantitative and qualitative data analysis, drawing on EU-SILC and European Social Survey data and in-depth interviews conducted by the four partner organisations.

The top 10% analysed in the four countries tend to vote regularly and influence policy; therefore, the research concludes that policymakers need to engage with the top 10% in formulating policy to reduce inequality, and in a post-pandemic world, generate greater solidarity across different socio-economic groups.

The report was published in 2020 but still makes for very interesting and relevant reading.

Here are the top ten of the report’s key recommendations (you can download the full recommendations and the country-specific policy implications below): 

1. Invest in public services. Respond to the top 10%’s desire for fairness and increased opportunities for social mobility – especially amongst younger generations – by investing in all public services that implicitly respond to housing, health, and education needs. Climate action was not mentioned that often in the interviews but may become a basic right. The pandemic has shown how crucial it is for governments to fund, plan and provide preventative public health as well as essential frontline services that respond to a crisis and generate public resilience. 

2. Improve public understanding of the negative consequences of inequality. This should be a fundamental element of further investment in public services. Policy design needs to incorporate the impact that those services have on life chances and social mobility. To increase support from the top 10% for redistribution, policymakers need to extend the political discussion to the range of dimensions of inequality, such as racial inequality, gender inequality, and wealth inequality.  

3. Highlight the association between poverty and inequality. In doing so, draw on the empathy shown to those in poverty and demonstrate that reducing inequality is instrumental in reducing poverty. 

4. Promote the importance of public services to the top 10%. Covid-19 has shown how important these services are for supporting public health, education, and the economy. These services also provide a sense of security across income groups and reduce inequality.  Public services should continue to be promoted within public policy, specifically in relation to public resilience to present and future challenges, like an ageing population in Europe. Improving public understanding of the role of the public sector will be integral to promoting it. 

5. Improve public sector performance. This will be an essential element of the strategy for maintaining the top 10%’s demand for public services by legitimising the welfare state and guaranteeing its maintenance and improvement. Specifically, policies should aim to improve service quality, access, and innovation. The top 10% should be encouraged in turn to use these services rather than accepting implicitly the notion that private services offer better quality and faster access.  

6. Promote public policy evaluation. This will increase public confidence in accountability and efficiency of public services; encourage scrutiny and participation in the policy process and through wider dissemination of evaluation results, increase awareness of positive policy outcomes for redistribution, well-being and use of public revenue.  

7. Address misconceptions about the top 10%’s relative position in the income distribution and the functioning of the welfare state (and in the process reverse some of the stigma the top 10% expressed about using public services). Make the relationship between an individual’s financial contribution and their position within the income distribution much more transparent, for example, through the tax submission process.   

8. Make fair access to quality education a policy priority. Even if respondents were against inheritance tax, they wanted fairness across generations. In other words, even if they were against paying more taxes, they wanted public investment to prioritise providing better opportunities for children of less well-off families.  

9. Likewise, make equality in healthcare a priority, versus two-tiered health systems. This point is particularly relevant for Ireland, but also in the other three countries, where use of private care by wealthier segments of the population has been increasing since 2008. The top 10%’s desire for a strong public health system is likely to have increased during the pandemic.  

10. Intensify regional development policy. Notwithstanding the complexities of spatial economic disparities, governments should encourage economic development outside main cities, particularly in small towns and neglected rural areas. The cost of living in main cities means that social reproduction has become more difficult, and this can be addressed through job creation and investment in infrastructure outside the cities.  Economic development should incorporate wider use of technology, as seen during the pandemic, to promote teleworking and shorter working hours.  

Continue to read the key recommendations – and country-specific recommendations here:

2004-4-top-10-recommendations-final.pdf