LONDON, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Brtain has become one of the most unequal developed countries as its richest 1 percent of the population owns 20 times more than the poorest 20 percent, a charity said on Tuesday, calling on the British government to tackle the issue.
The richest 10 percent of the British population owns 54 percent of the country's total wealth with the top 1 percent holding 23 percent, while the poorest 20 percent -- nearly 13 million people, share just 0.8 percent of the country's wealth, the Oxford-based Oxfam said in a briefing note.
The anti-poverty charity's report is based on data from Zurich-headquartered financial company Credit Suisse, warning that around 400,000 more British households could be living in poverty by 2030 unless the government takes actions to diminish the gap.
In the release, Oxfam promoted a plan to shrink the gap, including bringing in greater representation on company boards, capping high salaries with pay ratios and curbing excessive pay, and dealing with tax loopholes.
"Addressing the practises of unscupulous business needs to be a central part of the Government's plans to even up the economy," said Rachael Orr, head of Oxfam's UK programme, calling British Prime Minister Theresa May to include relevant plans in her conference speech.
In a speech given in July, May mentioned the necessity to review the country' s economy in order for more people to improve their well-being and expressed criticism towards irresponsible business practice.
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, one of Britain's leading social charities, 13 million people in Britain are living in poverty.
