THE Labour Party’s election manifesto complains of a country where “economic success depends on just a few at the top”. But is this an accurate picture of the economy? Inequality in disposable income between the top fifth and bottom fifth of households is lower than in 1990, and is on a downward trend. But it did increase slightly in 2013—just as the economic recovery gained steam.

High earners are better insulated from wage cuts than low earners, as they will tend to have higher net wealth, too. The richest ten percent of households hold net wealth worth 11 times what the highest earners make in a year.

Correction: The original version of this article claimed that inequality between the top and bottom British income quintiles has been steadily growing. In fact it has been mostly falling since 1990. This was corrected on April 15th.