According to data from the World Bank, Germany has the 14th lowest Gini coefficient in the world. [1] However, since the mid-1990s, income, gender[ citation needed ] and social inequality in Germany has been rising. [2] [3]
According to data from the World Bank, Germany has the 14th lowest Gini coefficient in the world. [1] However, since the mid-1990s, income, gender[ citation needed ] and social inequality in Germany has been rising. [2] [3]
Many of the inequalities that Germany is experiencing today can be traced back to the reunification of East and West Germany. It was during this time that Eastern German manufacturing and social constructs lagged behind that of the west. East German policies mainly reflected that of a communist nation since they were being funded and governed by a communist Russian regime. As a result of these policies and regulatory practices, manufacturing in the east struggled during reunification, contributing to the current geographical divide. The gap in manufacturing technology between East and West Germany led to the demise of many East German businesses, leaving many eastern Germans unemployed. [4]
Since the 1980s, income inequality in Germany has been rising. According to the German think-tank DIW, a typical citizen in the upper 1% of earnings in Germany holds a personal wealth of at least 800,000 euros ($1.09 million), whilst over 25% of all adults have either no wealth or negative wealth due to debt. Germany's Gini coefficient was 0.78 in 2012, [5] compared with 0.68 in France, 0.61 in Italy and 0.45 in Slovakia. A geographical inequality has also been found between the areas of Germany previously known as East Germany and West Germany; on average, an adult in former West Germany has assets worth 94,000 Euros, as compared to a typical adult in the former communist East Germany with just over 40,000 Euros. [5]
According to Germany's Federal Statistical Office, average gross hourly earnings for women in 2008 were 23.2 percent lower than that of their male counterparts. The average employed female employee in Germany earns 23.1% less than the average male employee, in comparison to 16.4% across the EU. There is also gender division between some industries, with most people in the manufacturing industry in Germany being men and most people in health and social work being women. [6]
The economy of Denmark is a modern mixed economy with comfortable living standards, a high level of government services and transfers, and a high dependence on foreign trade. The economy is dominated by the service sector with 80% of all jobs, whereas about 11% of all employees work in manufacturing and 2% in agriculture. The nominal gross national income per capita was the seventh-highest in the world at $58,439 in 2020. Correcting for purchasing power, per capita income was Int$57,781 or 10th-highest globally. The income distribution is relatively equal but inequality has somewhat increased during the last decades. This increase was attributed to both a larger spread in gross incomes and various economic policy measures. In 2017, Denmark had the seventh-lowest Gini coefficient of the then 28 European Union countries. With 5,892,871 inhabitants, Denmark has the 36th largest national economy in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the 51st largest in the world measured by purchasing power parity (PPP).
In economics, the Gini coefficient, also known as the Gini index or Gini ratio, is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income inequality or the wealth inequality within a nation or a social group. The Gini coefficient was developed by the statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini.
The standard of living in the United States is high by the standards that most economists use, and for many decades throughout the 20th century, the United States was recognized as having the highest standard of living in the world. Per capita income is high but also less evenly distributed than in most other developed countries; as a result, the United States fares particularly well in measures of average material well being that do not place weight on equality aspects.
The economy of the Netherlands is the 15th largest in the world in 2022 according to Forbes. Its GDP per capita was estimated at $68,572 in the fiscal year 2022, which makes it one of the highest-earning nations in the world. Between 1996 and 2000, annual economic growth (GDP) averaged over 4%, well above the European average of 2.5% at the time. Growth slowed considerably in 2001–05 as part of the early 2000s recession. The years 2006 and 2007 however showed economic growth of 3-4% per annum. The Dutch economy was hit considerably by the financial crisis of 2007–2008, and the ensuing European sovereign-debt crisis.
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth. Besides economic inequality between countries or states, there are important types of economic inequality between different groups of people.
In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes economic inequality which is a concern in almost all countries around the world.
Income inequality metrics or income distribution metrics are used by social scientists to measure the distribution of income and economic inequality among the participants in a particular economy, such as that of a specific country or of the world in general. While different theories may try to explain how income inequality comes about, income inequality metrics simply provide a system of measurement used to determine the dispersion of incomes. The concept of inequality is distinct from poverty and fairness.
The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or economic heterogeneity.
Income inequality in the United States is the extent to which income is distributed in differing amounts among the American population. It has fluctuated considerably since measurements began around 1915, moving in an arc between peaks in the 1920s and 2000s, with a 30-year period of relatively lower inequality between 1950 and 1980.
Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It is the differentiation preference of access of social goods in the society brought about by power, religion, kinship, prestige, race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and class. Social inequality usually implies the lack of equality of outcome, but may alternatively be conceptualized in terms of the lack of equality of access to opportunity. The social rights include labor market, the source of income, health care, and freedom of speech, education, political representation, and participation.
Poverty in Switzerland refers to people who are living in relative poverty in Switzerland. In 2018, 7.9% of the population or some 660,000 people in Switzerland were affected by income poverty. Switzerland has also a significant number of working poor, estimated at 145,000 in 2015.
Median household disposable income in the UK was £29,400 in the financial year ending (FYE) 2019, up 1.4% (£400) compared with growth over recent years; median income grew by an average of 0.7% per year between FYE 2017 and FYE 2019, compared with 2.8% between FYE 2013 and FYE 2017.
Income inequality in India refers to the unequal distribution of wealth and income among its citizens. According to the CIA World Factbook, the Gini coefficient of India, which is a measure of income distribution inequality, was 35.2 in 2011, ranking 95th out of 157. Wealth distribution is also uneven, with one report estimating that 54% of the country's wealth is controlled by millionaires, the second highest after Russia, as of November 2016. The richest 1% of Indians own 58% of wealth, while the richest 10% of Indians own 80% of the wealth. This trend has consistently increased, meaning the rich are getting richer much faster than the poor, widening the income gap. Inequality worsened since the establishment of income tax in 1922, overtaking the British Raj's record of the share of the top 1% in national income, which was 20.7% in 1939–40.
Poverty in Poland has been relatively stable in the past decades, affecting about 6.5% of the society. In the last decade there has been a lowering trend, as in general Polish society is becoming wealthier and the economy is enjoying one of the highest growth rates in Europe. There have been noticeable increases in poverty around the turns of the decades, offset by decreases in poverty in the years following those periods.
Sweden enjoys a relatively low income inequality and a high standard of living. Unemployment as of 2017 was estimated to be 6.6% by the CIA World Fact Book, lower than in other European Union countries. The Nordic model of a social welfare society exemplified by Sweden and its near neighbours has often been considered a European success story compared internationally with the socioeconomic structures of other developed industrial nations. This model of state provided social welfare includes many unemployment benefits for the poor, and amply funded health, housing and social security provision. within essentially corruption free nations subscribing to principles of a measure of openness of information about government activity. The Income inequality in Sweden ranks low in the Gini coefficient, being 25.2 as of 2015 which is one of the lowest in the world, and ranking similarly to the other Nordic countries; although inequality has recently been on the rise and several central European countries now have a lower Gini coefficient than Sweden.
Denmark has been noted as having one of the lowest income inequality ratings in the world and has been known to maintain relative stability in this metric throughout decades past. The OECD data of 2016 gives Denmark a Gini coefficient of 0.249, below the OECD average of 0.315. The OECD in 2013 ranked Denmark with having a 0.254 Gini coefficient, ranking third behind Iceland and Norway respectively as the countries with the lowest income inequality qualifications. The Gini coefficients are measured using a 0–1 calibration where 0 equals complete equality and 1 equals complete inequality. "Wage-distributive outcomes" and their effect on income equality have been noted since the 1970s and 80s. Denmark, along with other Nordic countries, such as Finland and Sweden, has long held a stable low wage inequality index as well.
Wealth inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean refers to economic discrepancies among people of the region. Wealth inequality remains a serious issue despite strong economic growth and improved social indicators observed over the past decade. A report release in 2013 by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs entitled Inequality Matters. Report of the World Social Situation, observed that: ‘Declines in the wage share have been attributed to the impact of labour-saving technological change and to a general weakening of labour market regulations and institutions. Such declines are likely to affect individuals in the middle and bottom of the income distribution disproportionately, since they rely mostly on labour income.’ In addition, the report noted that ‘highly-unequal land distribution has created social and political tensions and is a source of economic inefficiency, as small landholders frequently lack access to credit and other resources to increase productivity, while big owners may not have had enough incentive to do so.