INEQUALITY - now
at its highest level in decades in many countries – undermines economic growth
and well-being, says a new OECD report.
But policies to tackle the widening gap between rich and poor will only succeed
if they also look beyond income and address better access to high-quality education,
health care and public infrastructure, it adds.
The
wealthy have overwhelmingly captured the benefits of growth. The average
income of the richest 10 percent of the population in OECD countries was
nine and a half times higher than that of the poorest 10 percent in 2010,
compared with a level seven times higher 25 years ago.
In the United States, the richest 1 percent took 47 percent of total income
growth between 1976 and 2007, compared with 37 percent in Canada and around
20 percent in Australia and Britain. The gap between rich and poor has widened
even faster since the financial crisis.
The report reveals the links between income, education and health. Data from
14 OECD countries show that at the age of 30, people with the highest education
levels could expect to live on average 6 years longer than their poorly educated
peers.
"All on Board: Making Inclusive Growth Happen" provides evidence of the consequences
of inequality, sets out a framework for action and allows governments to assess
how policies impact different social groups in different ways.
The report is part of an Organisation-wide effort to develop an inclusive
agenda for growth and well-being, and is a natural offshoot of the OECD New
Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) project to reflect on the causes of
the crisis and the lessons for policy. The Inclusive Growth initiative pioneers
a multi-dimensional framework that explores new ways of combining strong growth
with a better distribution of benefits and outcomes.
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