Income Inequality Definition Oecd
Find compare and share oecd data by indicator.
Income inequality definition oecd. Pickett 2009 the spirit level. Income inequality data 8 november 2018. Income inequality in economics significant disparity in the distribution of income between individuals groups populations social classes or countries income inequality is a major dimension of social stratification and social class it affects and is affected by many other forms of inequality such as inequalities of wealth political power and social status. Further reading oecd 2008 growing unequal.
This article takes income as the focal variable. The less equal the distribution the higher income inequality is. The information available in the oecd income distribution database is more. Income inequality is how unevenly income is distributed throughout a population.
The poverty rate is the ratio of the number of people in a given age group whose income falls below the. Oecd 2011 causes of growing income inequality in oecd countries oecd publishing paris forthcoming. Supported by the oecd income inequality data. It consists of earnings.
The united states wealth inequality which takes into consideration income property and investments is even more pronounced than its income inequality. The united states currently holds 41 6 percent of the world s personal wealth making it the richest nation in the world but has a gini coefficient 42 that is the worst of any oecd. Income inequality is defined as the difference in how income is distributed among individuals and or populations. There has been much progress in improving the availability quality and comparability of income and wealth inequality data.
It is also described as the gap between rich and poor wealth disparity wealth and income differences or the wealth gap. Income distribution and poverty in oecd countries oecd publishing paris. Income inequality is defined as a measure that highlights the gap between different individuals or households disposable income in a particular year and in a given country. Section 2 outlines the conceptual difference between consumption current income and permanent income and then moves on to examine the nuances of the definition of income and the further methodological decisions that need to be taken to study income inequality.
Data and explanations a b atkinson cesifo working paper no. Empirical and theoretical methods february 2003 presented at cesifo conference on globalization inequality and well being november 2002 an electronic version of the paper may be downloaded from the ssrn website.