Income Inequality Trends and their Challenges to Redistribution Policies in Japan

Tetsuo Fukawa and Takashi Oshio ()
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Tetsuo Fukawa: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research
Takashi Oshio: Kobe University

Journal of Income Distribution, 2007, vol. 16, issue 3-4, 9-30

Abstract: This article is an overview of income inequality trends during the 1980s and 1990s and a discussion of their challenges to redistribution policies in Japan. The key results are summarized as follows. First, a widening disparity in market income for the working-age population has been driving rising income inequality in society as a whole, while population aging has added to the uptrend. Second, wide income inequality for the aged population reflects high rates of co-residency and labor force participation among the elderly. This unique feature to the Japanese elderly explains the fact that population aging has led to a rise in overall inequality measures. Third, the current scheme of redistribution policies is less effective for reducing income inequality compared to other countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (OECD), leaving distribution of disposable income relatively uneven in Japan.

Keywords: Japan; income inequality; income redistribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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