Long Run Trends in Income Inequality in the United States, UK, Sweden, Germany and Canada: A Birth Cohort View

Lars Osberg

Eastern Economic Journal, 2003, vol. 29, issue 1, 121-141

Abstract: This paper examines the level and distribution of equivalent after tax, after transfer money income in Canada, the United States, the UK, Germany and Sweden using micro-data from the Luxembourg Income Study from 1969/70 to 1994/95. It concentrates on inequality within and between birth cohorts. At any point in time, less than 11% of aggregate income inequality is due to intergenerational inequality. Although median income growth of different birth cohorts over the period has varied widely across countries, there has been a general trend to greater income inequality within cohorts since 1980. The five countries studied differ in the trends observed in aggregate income, poverty, polarization and income inequality. In the United States and the UK, the incomes of the top decile of each cohort have risen dramatically, but the incomes of the bottom quintile have stagnated. In Canada and Sweden both the top and bottom deciles of each cohort have experienced similar trends. Germany is an intermediate case.

Keywords: Distribution; Income; Inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:29:y:2003:i:1:p:121-141

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