regressive
adjective
/rɪˈɡresɪv/ ukusused to describe ideas or systems that are old-fashioned and do not encourage change or development:
The movement will defeat the autocratic and regressive regime.
ECONOMICS, TAX
used to describe an economic or tax system in which there are advantages for rich people and disadvantages for poor people:
Economists generally regard sales taxes as regressive, since the poor spend a greater part of their income than the rich.
regressive policy/subsidy/measure Two decades of regressive policies have doubled the numbers living in poverty.
Compare
progressive