General Federation of Trade Unions
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CITY PAYS OUT £14billion IN BONUSES
Posted on Thursday, August 28, 2008
£14.1billion in bonuses, (up 30 per cent on last year) was paid out in the City this year.
It is behind the massive house price inflation in Britain’s most sought-after areas, with prices in Kensington and Chelsea having risen by more than a third annually since 2000.
Economists have warned that the growing number of super-rich is creating an underclass. BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday revealed research showing that the chief executives of the FTSE 100 companies received 67 times the pay of their average employee.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies says incomes for the poorest fifth of society fell by 0.4 per cent last year.
Martin Narey, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: "The inequality this represents should shame us as a society. Right now, the life expectancy of children born in some parts of Glasgow is lower than life expectancy of children born on the Gaza strip.
"Yet just one quarter of the annual amount paid in City bonuses would halve child poverty in the UK."
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