I put that quote in above to show that those who work hard obviously gain the most, but if you haven't got a job and can't find a job then things are obviously pretty bleak as in:
"COUNTRY NOTE: UNITED KINGDOM
Income inequality among working-age persons has risen faster in the United Kingdom than in any other
OECD country since 1975. From a peak in 2000 and subsequent fall, it has been rising again since 2005 and is now
well above the OECD average.
The annual average income of the top 10% in 2008 was almost GBP 55,000, almost 12 times higher than
that of the bottom 10%, who had an average income of GBP 4,700. This is up from a ratio of 8 to 1 in 1985. Taxes
and benefits reduce inequality by a quarter in the United Kingdom, in line with the OECD average."
GBP 4,700 equates to GBP90.38 per week and I assume includes stuff like housing benefit if total income to those unemployed while 55k is obviously well over GBP 1,000 per week.
I think a person is doing ok once he/she is earning GBP 100 per day (i.e. GBP 500 per week, GBP 26,000 per annum).
It's not easy to drag that bottom 10% up by over five times their present income; work and lots of it seem to be the answer; finding productive work let alone forcing people to take it is another problem.
On GBP 100 per week your disposable income for food, transport, clothing is probably about GBP 35 per week; on GBP 500 per week your disposable income probably soars by at least TENFOLD to something more like GBP 350 per week unless you're foolish enough to have a huge mortgage and insist on borrowing money for a fancy new expensive car, etc.