Fair rewards

The principle in detail

Contrary to what some believe, we don’t live in a meritocracy, where success and status are driven purely by talent and hard work. Because inequality deprives many people of the fair essentials and of fair opportunities, luck (such as being born into poverty or wealth) has a huge impact on people’s ability to earn income and accumulate wealth. Luck also influences how much certain talents are rewarded by the labour market; and our economy undervalues many who contribute to society, such as unpaid carers and key workers. We should respond by better rewarding everyone’s contribution, by lowering barriers to wealth creation, ensuring that large financial rewards are proportionate and earned, and improving pay, conditions and security for low earners.

Where we are today

Today in Britain, the median FTSE 100 CEO is paid 120 times more than the median full-time worker, while the gender pay gap among full-time employees is 7%, and 16% of employees are paid below the real living wage.

What the public think

79% of Britons think key workers in the early years sector are paid too little, while the same proportion think that CEO pay levels are unfairly high; however, 38% think that success is mostly down to people’s hard work.

What to do about it

Policy solutions to the absence of fair rewards in the UK include worker representation on boards, collective bargaining, tackling insecure work, and properly taxing income from wealth.