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Income

Definitions

You might be forgiven for thinking that the "definition of income" is not particularly difficult to construct and that there would be few, if any, arguments surrounding its construction. You would, however, be wrong. As with most things in life, arguments surround how income can and should be defined (which makes it, after a fashion, a contested concept).

For example, different types of definition over the past few years in the UK have been produced (and operationalised) by government departments (such as the Department of Social Security - now the Department for Work and Pensions), academics and professional organisations, to name but three.