This paper uses microeconomic data from the UK Family Expenditure Surveys (FES) and the General Household Surveys (GHS) to describe and explain changes in the distribution of male wages. Since the late 1970s wage inequality has risen very fast in the UK, and this rise is characterized both by increasing education and age differentials. We show that a large part of the changes in the UK can be summarized quite simply as increases in education differentials and a decline of growth of entry level wages which persist subsequently. This fact we interpret as cohort effects. We also show that, like in the US, an important aspect of rising wage inequality is increased within-group wage dispersion. Finally we use the GHS to evaluate the role of alternative education measures.

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1 October 2000

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The Review of Economic Studies 67(4) , pp.635-666, 2000

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DOI: 10.1111/1467-937X.00148

https://academic.oup.com/restud/article/67/4/635/1713569

This Journal article is published under the centre's Labour programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Labour market inequalities: Causes and cures