Huge gap in income revealed across Shropshire
People in Shropshire are getting richer – but Telford was today revealed to be the county’s poor relation.
Households in the Shropshire Council area have £2,000 more spending money than the average for the West Midlands, figures show.
The average person in Shropshire had £19,133 left over after tax in 2017, the most recent data available – up one per cent from the previous year.
But people in Telford & Wrekin households had just £15,937 left over after tax in 2017 – down 0.7 per cent from the previous year.
Both sets of figures compare to the figure for the West Midlands, which shows that people had £16,885 disposable income on average.
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In Powys the figures show households have £800 more than the Welsh average, and slightly less than the West Midlands average, with £16,578 left over – up 1.5 per cent on the previous year.
Social equality charity the Equality Trust today called for action to address a “dangerously extreme” wealth gap.
It said today’s release of Office for National Statistics data shows the wide range of income levels, even within a relatively affluent county like Shropshire. And it revealed a gap of nearly £48,000 between the UK’s richest and poorest areas.
Telford’s falling income was significant as the only full region where disposable household income fell between 2016 and 2017 was Yorkshire and the Humber, where it dipped by just 0.2 per cent.
Dr Wanda Wyporska, of the Equality Trust, said: “There are dangerously extreme gaps in wealth and income between rich and poor in all areas and also between the regions. We see vulnerable people and low-income families in particular struggling to make ends meet.”
According to the figures, the UK’s total gross disposable household income was £1,289 billion in 2017, 1.6 per cent higher than the previous year.Nottingham has the UK’s lowest spending money per head, at £12,445. That’s nearly five times smaller than Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham, where it was £60,343.
Matthew Geer, campaigns manager at Turn2us, a charity helping people in financial hardship, said: “The inequalities shown in these figures highlight how different people’s financial circumstances can be depending on their postcode.”
