Biggest boom in City bonuses for years risks driving up inequality, says IFS

The IFS said City bankers, fund managers and other finance workers accounted for almost a third of all employees in the top 1% income bracket. Photograph: Ian West/PA

Inequality in Britain risks being driven up by the biggest boom in City bonuses and pay since the 2008 financial crisis, the country’s leading economics thinktank has warned.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the return of bumper finance industry payouts meant the top 1% highest-paid workers were beginning to pull further away from the rest of the UK workforce despite the cost of living crisis hitting the country at large.