A Comparison of Income and Expenditure Inequality Estimates: The Australian Evidence, 1975-76 to 1993-94 (original) (raw)

Demographic trends and consumption inequality in Australia 1975-1993

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 1999

We examine trends in consumption inequality among Australian households using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Household Expenditures Surveys collected over the period 1975 to 1993. We find that consumption is much more equal than income and that both income and consumption inequality rose by significant amounts over the period. However, consumption inequality rose by much less (the Gini coefficient for income inequality rose by 17% while that for nondurable consumption rose by 9%). We then examine the effects of demographic trends, specifically population ageing and changing family structures, and find they account for only a minor fraction in the overall growth in economic inequality.

Household Equivalence Scales: New Australian Estimates from the 1984 Household Expenditure Survey*

Economic Record, 1990

Equivalence scales are measures of the relative incomes required by households of different si:e and composition to attain a similar standard of living, and are used in analysis of consumer expenditure putterns as well as in judging the appropriateness of the structure gf income maintenance payments. The paper reviews equivalence scales previously derived for Australia andpresents a range of new estimates based on the 1984 Household Expenditure Survey.

Income, wealth and earnings inequality in Australia

OECD Economics Department working papers, 2019

This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. 2 │ ECO/WKP(2019)7 INCOME, WEALTH AND EARNINGS INEQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA: EVIDENCE FROM THE HILDA SURVEY Unclassified OECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the author(s). Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on a broad range of issues on which the OECD works.

Trends in the distribution of income in Australia

2013

The paper examines the recent trends in Australia's individual and household income distributions. It examines the proximate factors that help explain aggregate trends to provide a more detailed understanding of the composition of the income distribution (in terms of both the groups represented within it and the different kinds of income they receive). It also examines whether the Australian experience mirrors general trends across OECD countries. Key findings: Between 1988-89 and 2009-10, the incomes of individuals and households in Australia have risen substantially in real terms and in comparison to trends in other OECD countries, with particularly strong growth between 2003-04 and 2009-10. – The increase has mainly been driven by growth in labour force earnings, arising from employment growth, more hours worked (by part-time workers) and increased hourly wages. While real individual and household incomes have both risen across their distributions, increases have been uneven....

The Distribution of Household Spending in Australia

Rba Bulletin, 2014

This article uses household-level data to examine the distribution of spending and saving in Australia and how that has changed over time. The distribution of spending and saving is important as, among other things, it can affect the way that the household sector responds to economic shocks. The data indicate that households headed by older people have increased their share of total spending over the past two decades, reflecting both an ageing population and an increase in the average spending of older households compared with other households. The household survey data also indicate that spending is more equally distributed than income across households due to their ability to borrow and save. Moreover, consumption inequality has been little changed, despite an increase in income inequality over recent decades.

Trends in Fiscal Incidence and Economic Inequality in Australia

Unpublished, 2016

This paper presents a picture of the Australian welfare state through nearly three decades of economic policy change. Three kinds of trend are tracked. The first is fiscal incidence, i.e. household taxes and social expenditure in both cash and kind. The main metric is "net benefits", with household types being classified by income quintile and by age. The second is economic inequality, as measured by the distribution of "final incomes" and net worth. The third is the performance of the labour market, as measured by earned incomes and unemployment. The paper concludes with an attempt to integrate the evidence into a single picture.

Trends in Inequality Using Consumption-Expenditures: The U.S. From 1960 to 1993

Review of Income and Wealth, 1997

While much of the evidence suggests that there was an increase in inequality in the U.S. during the 1980s, the reasons are less evident. Using the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey data, we find that the inequality of consumption-expenditures, as well as the inequality of other measures of resources, widened considerably during the 1980s. While previous studies suggest that increasing inequality is mainly due to increases in within group inequality, we show that by decomposing inequality by the interaction of family type and education almost three-fourths of the increase in inequality is accounted for by changes in inequality between groups and by shifts in the population.

Male Earnings Inequality, Women's Earnings, and Family Income Inequality in Australia, 1982-2007

Journal of Economic Issues, 2013

In the quarter century after 1982, male earnings inequality increased substantially in most industrialized countries, as did women's participation in paid work. Both trends impacted family income inequality. However, this paper's analysis of Australian data shows that the impact of women's earnings on family income inequality changed over the study period of 1982 to 1995-1996. During the same time frame, the growth in women's earnings was concentrated in households with high male earnings, pushing family income inequality higher. However, after 1995-1996, the growth in women's earnings had a moderating influence on family income inequality as it was concentrated in households with lower male earnings. These findings contribute new evidence on the importance of trends in family formation and the correlation of husbands' and wives' earnings to the evolution of family income inequality. The evidence is also suggestive of a dynamic relationship between rising family income inequality and women's participation in paid work that echoes Thorstein Veblen ([1899] 2008) and James Duesenberry's (1952) ideas regarding the importance of relative income and emulation. earnings inequality, emulation, family income inequality, relative income, women's earnings D31, J21, J22 In line with the experience of many other industrialized countries, Australia's labor market has experienced dramatic change in recent decades. Male wage and earnings inequality has increased substantially (see Gottschalk and Danziger 2005, for U.S. evidence; Acemoglu 2002 and Hornstein et al. 2005, for an overview of international trends; and Keating 2003, for recent Australian data). The labor market has also become increasingly feminized as a result of a large increase in women's involvement in paid work. Between the 1986 and 2006 Australian censuses, for example, the female labor-force-participation rate grew from 48 to 58 percent and women's share of total employment (measured in jobs) rose from 40 to 46 percent (ABS 2009) (see Goldin 2006, for international data). The historically dominant role of male earnings in the composition of family income typically yields a close relationship between male earnings inequality and family income inequality (see Gottschalk and Danziger 2005