Living in Squeezed Britain: Attitudes to Wealth and Economic Inequality in the New Age of Austerity

Even in the most optimistic economic projections, it seems the UK will remain squeezed for at least ten years. At the same time, the large growth in income inequalities experienced since the 1970s has not been reversed. Attitudes to wealth and income inequalities are cast in a new light in this era of austerity. Consumer behaviours and attitudes to money which were fostered by the boom of the Eighties and Nineties are obsolete – and, worse, they will create growing resentment if unchecked.

We welcome all interested parties from a broad range of sectors to join our speakers (including social scientists, psychologists, economists, journalists, businessmen and religious leaders) in analysing public and professional attitudes to economic inequality and wealth. By doing so, we can consolidate disparate discussions and suggest positive recommendations for living together in squeezed Britain.

Speakers include John Bird, Co-founder, The Big Issue; Professor Gordon Brown, Warwick University; Elizabeth Clery, Co-director, British Social Attitudes Survey; Naomi Eisenstadt, University of Oxford; Sir John Gieve, Chairman of VocaLink; Professor John Hills, LSE; Professor John Holmwood, University of Nottingham; Paul Johnson, Director, IFS; Dr Omar Khan, Head of Policy, Runnymede Trust; Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby, University of Kent; Martin Vander Weyer, Business Editor, The Spectator; Karl Wilding, Head of Policy, Research and Foresight, NCVO; Matthew Whittaker, Resolution Foundation.

www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/squeezed_britain