If you are wondering if the squeezed middle really exists in the UK this reportis worth looking at, if only for the charts at the beginning. They run through the financial lives of our low and middle earners (LME) defined as those "too rich to rely heavily on all the support mechanisms of the welfare state" but possibly "too poor to flourish in the market economy."
In 2008-09, the year this report covers, there were six million LME households. Overall, their average net family income was around £20,300, against an average net income across all working households of £31,500. In 2008-09 their incomes rose by a mere 2.5%; over the same period the incomes of those in benefit-dependent households rose by 4.7%, and that of those in higher income households by 3.5%. These households were, it seems, hit extra-hard by the recessions: they were more likely to lose their jobs than other groups and less likely to be able to find a new one.
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