UK churches can make ‘unique contribution’
Christian think tank Theos sets out scale of UK economic inequality and theological case against it
A report by the Christian think tank Theos has said that UK churches can make a unique contribution to combating economic inequality, and their contribution is needed more than ever.
The report Bridging the Gap: Economic inequality and church responses in the UK sets out the scale of economic inequality in the UK and the theological case against it. It also suggests practical responses from UK churches, from using their investments to pressure companies to pay fair tax and curb excessive bonuses, to helping empower local people to tackle low pay through community organising. Churches need to do more, it said, to become leading voices in a national conversation about how to reduce economic inequality in the aftermath of Covid-19.
Simon Perfect, the author of the report, says: ‘Economic inequality is a spiritual as well as a social ill… Churches have started to move beyond their traditional focus on poverty to tackle economic inequality as well. But Covid-19 shows us they need to do more. This report makes the case that churches should become champions against economic inequality, using their resources to help tackle it, and their voices to make it a national priority.’
According to Theos, the UK has one of the highest levels of income inequality in Europe, with the top twenty percent of households receiving nearly half of all disposable household income. It also says the UK now faces a ‘looming economic crisis’, with Covid-19 exacerbating inequalities and hitting the poor the hardest.
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