MIND THAT GAP

One of the illusions fostered by politicians and the media is that we live in an era of growing prosperity wherein the gap between the rich and poor is gradually diminishing. Figures produced by the Institute for Fiscal Studies show that exactly the opposite is occurring. "Yet the rising prosperity resulting from three decades of economic growth has not been shared evenly. After tax, the richest 1 per cent of households claimed 3 per cent of total income in 1977; that proportion has trebled to 9 per cent, the institute found." (Times, 4 June) RD