Household Economic Inequality in Australia

Household Economic Inequality in Australia
Author: Greg Kaplan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre:
ISBN:

We use data from the Household Expenditure Survey and Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey to document facts about consumption and income inequality among households in Australia, emphasising the role of the rents imputed to home owners for conclusions about inequality. Consistent with other developed economies, consumption inequality in Australia is lower on average than income inequality. Both have increased since the early 1990s, with income inequality increasing by more. We decompose the trend in income inequality into four components: (i) changes in observed household characteristics; (ii) changes in the returns to unobserved skills; (iii) changes in the size of persistent income shocks; and (iv) changes in the size of transitory income shocks. We find that changes in the size of persistent and transitory income shocks, rather than changes in observed household characteristics, explain most of this trend. Since the middle of the 2000s, the source of income inequality has shifted from transitory to persistent factors, which is consistent with the rise in consumption inequality over the corresponding period. We find that accounting for imputed rents lowers estimates of the level of inequality in Australia, but has a negligible effect on the trends.

The Ends and Means of Welfare

The Ends and Means of Welfare
Author: Peter Saunders
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2002-08-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521524438

This book, first published in 2002, explores the relation between economic liberalism and social policy in Australia.

Household Debt, Consumption, and Monetary Policy in Australia

Household Debt, Consumption, and Monetary Policy in Australia
Author: Ms.Elena Loukoianova
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 39
Release: 2019-04-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498306489

This paper discusses the evolution of the household debt in Australia and finds that while higher-income and higher-wealth households tend to have higher debt, lower-income households may become more vulnerable to rising debt service over time. Then, the paper analyzes the impact of a monetary policy shock on households’ current consumption and durable expenditures depending on the level of household debt. The results corroborate other work that households’ response to monetary policy shocks depends on their debt and income levels. In particular, households with higher debt tend to reduce their current consumption and durable expenditures more than other households in response to a contractionary monetary policy shocks. However, households with low debt may not respond to monetary policy shocks, as they hold more interest-earning assets.

For Good Measure

For Good Measure
Author: Joseph E. Stiglitz
Publisher: The New Press
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1620975726

Today's leading economists weigh in with a new "dashboard" of metrics for measuring our economic and social health "What we measure affects what we do. If we focus only on material well-being—on, say, the production of goods, rather than on health, education, and the environment—we become distorted in the same way that these measures are distorted." —Joseph E. Stiglitz A consensus has emerged among key experts that our conventional economic measures are out of sync with how most people live their lives. GDP, they argue, is a poor and outmoded measure of our well-being. The global movement to move beyond GDP has attracted some of the world's leading economists, statisticians, and social thinkers who have worked collectively to articulate new approaches to measuring economic well-being and social progress. In the decade since the 2008 economic crisis, these experts have come together to determine what indicators can actually tell us about people's lives. In the first book of its kind, leading economists from around the world, including Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, Elizabeth Beasely, Jacob Hacker, François Bourguignon, Nora Lustig, Alan B. Krueger, and Joseph E. Stiglitz, describe a range of fascinating metrics—from economic insecurity and environmental sustainability to inequality of opportunity and levels of trust and resilience—that can be used to supplement the simplistic measure of gross domestic product, providing a far more nuanced and accurate account of societal health and well-being. This groundbreaking volume is sure to provide a major source of ideas and inspiration for one of the most important intellectual movements of our time.

Poverty, Inequality and Social Welfare in Australia

Poverty, Inequality and Social Welfare in Australia
Author: David T. Johnson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2013-11-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3662127296

Poverty, inequality and social welfare are defined in this book. Previous poverty studies are surveyed and a new index of poverty is developed based on everyday meanings, and stressing the individual and relative nature of poverty. Previous definitions of inequality and welfare are described and the relations between them and poverty are explored. New estimates of poverty are made for Australia. Conclusions are derived from comparisons between measured levels of poverty over time and across family types. Previous Australian studies of inequality and welfare are surveyed and new estimates are made for Australia for recent years.

Who Gets What?

Who Gets What?
Author: Frank Stilwell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2007-09-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 113946342X

This 2007 book addresses important contemporary concerns about social justice. It presents detailed economic evidence, but analyses it in a manner that is engaging and readily accessible to the non-specialist reader. Who Gets What? examines what has been happening to incomes and wealth in Australia, what causes increased economic inequality, and the possibility of creating a more egalitarian society. It looks at who is rich, which social groups are still in poverty, and the policies that could redistribute income and wealth more effectively.

Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries

Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries
Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2008-10-21
Genre:
ISBN: 9264044191

This report provides evidence of a fairly generalised increase in income inequality over the past two decades across OECD countries, but the timing, intensity and causes of the increase differ from what is typically suggested in the media.

Rising Inequality?

Rising Inequality?
Author: Australia. Productivity Commission
Publisher:
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2018
Genre: Equality
ISBN: 9781740376631

To help inform the debate on inequality in Australia, this paper provides the latest evidence on the level of inequality, poverty, and disadvantage. It draws upon multiple measures and indicators, as no single metric is sufficient to give a definitive answer on whether inequality - a multidimensional concept - is rising or falling. Data is taken from the Household Expenditure Survey and the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Topics include: the conceptual framework, trends in income and income inequality, the distribution of income, the demographics of income distribution, comparing the distributions of income and consumption, trends in wealth and wealth inequality, trends in the distribution of components of wealth, the demographics of wealth and income, how economic mobility relate to inequality, intergenerational mobility, life course mobility, how economic disadvantage relates to inequality, the prevalence of poverty, the demographics of poverty, how long poverty lasts, material deprivation, and social exclusion.