 Neighbourhood renewal policy action is needed, according to the report | The gap between rich and poor in the UK is wider now than 40 years ago, a government-commissioned report says. "Deep-seated and systemic differences" remain between men and women and minority groups in pay and employment, the National Equality Panel found. It said in areas such as neighbourhood renewal, taxes and education, policy action was needed to limit inequality. The issues raised would need "sustained and focused action", Equalities Minister Harriet Harman said. "But for the sake of the right of every individual to reach their full potential, for the sake of a strong and meritocratic economy and to achieve a peaceful and cohesive society, that is the challenge that must be met," she added. Earning power Apparent discrimination against people from ethnic minorities was revealed in the report, with those from nearly every minority group less likely to be in paid work than white British men and women. The panel - set up by the government in 2008 - found that despite women up to the age of 44 having better qualifications than men, men were still paid up to 21% more per hour. But the authors pointed out that some of the greatest differences come within social groups. Among women, many work part-time, earning less than £7.20 an hour, much less than the median pay of £9.90 across the country. | KEY POINTS FROM INEQUALITY REPORT Top 10% of population are worth more than £853,000 Bottom 1% have negative wealth (liabilities exceed assets) of £3,840 plus Every extra £100 a month in family income, put a child a month ahead of typical development aged five Bangladeshi and Pakistani children four months behind white children's development aged five | "Most political parties and people subscribe to the ideal of 'equality of opportunity'," panel chair Professor John Hills, of the London School of Economics, told the BBC. "The challenge that our report puts down to all political parties is how do you create a level playing field when there are such large differences between the resources that different people have available to them. Home Office minister Phil Woolas discusses the report on the BBC's Daily Politics "Things that allow you to buy a house in the catchment area of a good school or allow you to help your children get on the housing ladder. These are very big differences." The study said that the type of job and pay a parent had could have a cumulative effect throughout a person's life, setting them on "tracks that make all sorts of differences". By retirement, the difference between rich and poor can be "colossal", the report added. The panel pointed out that half of those who have worked in the top professions have net assets worth more than £900,000, while a 10th of those who have had unskilled jobs have property, savings and possessions worth less than £8,000. BBC social policy correspondent Gillian Hargreaves said the report would make "awkward reading for the government" as Labour had made tackling inequality a priority. Theresa May, shadow minister for women and equalities, told the BBC that Labour's policies had failed. "It is shocking that after 13 years of a government that wanted to focus on child inequality, we're still in this situation," she said. "Labour has had a one-dimensional approach, looking at the symptoms, not the causes. For example, one in six children are growing up in a workless household. We need policies that can make equality a reality." The Liberal Democrats' children, schools and families spokesman, David Laws, said Gordon Brown's government had "run out of ideas for tackling the lack of opportunity for so many children and the chasm that separates the rich from the poor". I LOVE politics. Don't you?
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These girls with interested male onlookers...
These girls with interested male onlookers...
An explanation of the above phenomena...
And the Attention span of males...
These are just sidelight pix to distract you.
This woman below will almost certainly win the inaugural womens' beard-growing event.
Below is a rendition of the "My brain can survive anything" event.
Here is a shot of Spaceship Orion.
Above is what I really look like. Below is a rendition of my younger brother Gerry.
Snow anyone?
I am the Supreme Being.
This is Jaring Timmerman, a centenarian swimmer I got to know.
This below on the right is ME.
I LOVE HYMIE ON GET SMART!
I just like this pic.
Our GOOFY Prime Minister.
My ex-newsroom.
Here's just a goofy picture of me...how did that get in here?
