...How can we begin to grasp the scope and scale of our new data-rich world, and can we truly comprehend what is at stake? This book explores the intricacies of data creation and charts how data-driven technologies have become essential to how society, government and the economy work. Creatively...

...This chapter picks up the theme of structural inequality by focusing not on the poor but on those who, through their high incomes and their wealth, have disproportionate power and influence: the rich. It shows that the total wealth held by the top half of the population (excluding the top 1% which...

... a dependency class, exactly the same criticism as has become directed at welfare states. The consequence was that the rich who were inclined to find some good cause for their wealth turned away from the problem of poverty towards safer recipients of their largesse: cultural institutions, medical research...

...When looking at the wealthy, this chapter divides this group into the ‘rich’, the ‘richer’ and the ‘richest’. Their ‘rich’ group comprises the most affluent 10 per cent by income and by assets. This group appear quite distinct from other groups in terms of their levels of income and assets...

...There is relatively little research into wealth and the wealthy, despite increasing academic, policy and public interest in the growing gap between rich and poor, and the personal assets of the wealthy. This book draws on new data to answer the following key questions: What is wealth? Who has got...

...The growth in wealth inequality in recent years has sparked a lively debate. Some argue that the wealth owned by the ‘super-rich’, for example, has a positive impact on society through consumption patterns which stimulate the economy, and in providing incentives to work hard. But an increasing body...

... of the British Social Attitudes survey, this chapter begins by outlining how rich and poor citizens differ in terms of their attitudes towards welfare, inequality and social citizenship. It then turns to demonstrate how this attitudinal divergence is mediated by material position and the knowledge accumulated...