In It Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits All
The gap between rich and poor keeps widening. Growth, if any, has disproportionally benefited higher income groups while lower income households have been left behind. This long-run increase in income inequality not only raises social and political concerns, but also economic ones. It tends to drag down GDP growth, due to the rising distance of the lower 40% from the rest of society. Lower income people have been prevented from realising their human capital potential, which is bad for the economy as a whole. This book highlights the key areas where inequalities are created and where new policies are required, including: the consequences of current consolidation policies; structural labour market changes with rising non-standard work and job polarization; persisting gender gaps; the challenge of high wealth concentration, and the role for redistribution policies.
Also available in: French
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Foreword
The gap between rich and poor keeps widening. In the decades before the Great Recession, economic growth benefited disproportionally higher income groups while lower-income households were left behind. Since the crisis, disparities widened and in many OECD countries inequality is today at its highest since data collection started. This long-run increase in income inequality does not only raise social and political but also economic concerns: income inequality tends to drag down GDP growth, and it is the rising distance of the lower 40% from the rest of society which accounts for this effect. Debates how to best curb this trend and promote opportunities for all have moved to the top of the policy agenda in many countries.
Also available in: French
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 223.33KBPDF
-
Click to Read online and shareREAD