From Household Earnings to Disposable Household Income Inequality

This chapter provides an overview of levels of and trends in household income distribution for the working-age population. It compares the size of the different components which make up total household income across countries and over time: wages and salaries, self-employment income, capital income, and taxes and benefits. The chapter examines the relative contributions of these various income sources to levels of and trends in overall household income inequality. It also identifies whether particular income sources influence overall inequality primarily through changes in their shares in total income or through changes in the way they are distributed.