Dimitri Tokmetzis

DATA - Met update onderaan

De inkomensverschillen in zijn ontwikkelde landen nog nooit zo groot geweest als nu. Dat blijkt uit een nieuw rapport van de OESO naar de inkomensverdeling tussen 1985 en 2008, dus nog voordat de effecten van de crisis goed zichtbaar zijn.

Vooral in de Verenigde Staten, Turkije, Israel en Mexico zijn de verschillen erg groot. Opvallend is dat juist in traditioneel egalitaire landen, zoals Zweden, Finland en Duitsland, de inkomensverschillen snel zijn gestegen.

De oorzaak, aldus de OESO: ,,The main driver behind rising income gaps has been greater inequality in wages and salaries, as the high-skilled have benefitted more from technological progress than the low-skilled. Reforms to boost competition and to make labour markets more adaptable, for example by promoting part-time work or more flexible hours, have promoted productivity and brought more people into work, especially women and low-paid workers. But the rise in part-time and low-paid work also extended the wage gap.

Tax and benefit systems play a major role in reducing market-driven inequality, but have become less effective at redistributing income since the mid-1990s. The main reason lies on the benefits side: benefits levels fell in nearly all OECD countries, eligibility rules were tightened to contain spending on social protection, and transfers to the poorest failed to keep pace with earnings growth.”