POOR men are more likely to be single in their 40s, according to new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The paper by the highly respected think tank claims a third of men from disadvantaged backgrounds live alone, compared to just one-in-seven men from wealthier backgrounds.
According to researcher this has led to a cycle of poverty lasting generations.
While the wealthier men live with someone else, and live on two incomes, the poorest men are sometimes lucky to have just one source of income. This is in part, the researchers say, down to lower rates of marriage and higher rates of relationship breakdown.
Men from low-income households were more than twice as likely to be divorced as those from high-income backgrounds, and almost twice as likely never to have been married.
Though even among men in couples, the partners of men from richer backgrounds earn 73 per cent more than the partners of men from poorer families.
It means that the gap between the richest and poorest men in the UK is widening. In 2012, employed 42-year-old men whose parents were among the richest fifth of households earned on average 88 per cent more than those from the poorest families. In 2000, the equivalent gap for men of the same age was 47 per cent.
The paper also says as women earn more money, it increases the poverty gap between the richest and the poorest and has slowed down the move of people from working class to middle class.
The IFS say that among men born 12 years earlier, “the differences in partnership status and partner earnings by family background were considerably smaller”.
And if you’re born poor, you’re more likely to be out of work. While only seven per cent of men growing up in the richest fifth of households were out of work at age 42 in 2012, more than 15 per cent of men from the poorest fifth of households were out of work.
Chris Belfield, a research economist at IFS and an author of the paper, said: “Focusing solely on the earnings of men in work understates the importance of family background in determining living standards. As well as having higher earnings, those from richer families are more likely to be in work”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here