PAY inequality among men has risen dramatically over the past 20 years, a study from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) revealed yesterday.

The IFS researcher found that one in five men aged 25 to 55 are on wages of £7.60 or less work part-time.

This is in contrast to the top 1 per cent of earners, who saw their share of household income increase by 2 per cent since 1994-95.

Equality Trust charity director Dr Wanda Wyporska said that too many hard working men are locked into poverty “earning a pittance in low-paid jobs, struggling to afford even the basics.”

Ms Wyporska said: “What’s worse is then seeing runaway pay for a gilded ‘elite’ at the top.

“It seems a fair day’s work no longer means a fair day’s pay. This is why Britain is one of the developed world’s most unequal countries.”

She said that where inequality is high the rate of violence increases — and there is also “mental and physical ill health and lack of trust. Is that the sort of country we want to pass on to future generations?”

She called for a “drastic rethink of what and who we value,” and for the “reining in” of “fat-cat CEOs.”

Urging for recognition for ordinary workers, she said: “Talk of a shared society will seem very hollow unless the government tackles our grotesque inequality.”

The figures used by the IFS are from the financial year 2014-15. The report noted in contrast that inequality in women’s weekly pay has shrunk, due to a trend of fewer women working part-time.