LONDON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The median disposable income for households in Britain reached 29,400 pounds in the financial year ending in 2019, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Friday.
The figure was 400 pounds or 1.4 percent higher than in the previous financial year, continuing a period of modest growth over recent years, added ONS.
The new study showed that median income grew by an average of 0.7 percent each year between 2017 and 2019, compared with 2.8 percent between 2013 and 2017.
The study showed an important influence on levels of growth in average household incomes in 2019 has been the improvement in real wages between 2018 and 2019. Over this period, real wages increased by an average of 1 percent, following an increase in nominal earnings.
Alongside the growth in average real earnings during 2019, the employment rate increased from 75.6 percent in 2018 to 76.1 percent.
The study also showed that the range of measures highlighting income inequality has remained largely unchanged over the past 10 years.
The figures showed that the richest fifth of people in Britain had a share of income that was over five times that for the poorest fifth in both 2018 and 2019.
ONS said disposable income levels are the amount of money that households have available on average for spending and saving after taking into account direct taxes, such as income tax and local council tax. It includes earnings from employment, private pensions and investments, as well as cash benefits provided by the state. (one pound currently equals to 1.24 U.S. dollars)
