OVER-INDEBTEDNESS is
hitting the young and middle class harder than other sections of society,
according to a new OECD database on the distribution of wealth launched
yesterday.
Two in every five households whose debts exceed 75% of their assets are headed
by a person under the age of 34, while the largest share of over-indebted households
is generally found in the middle, rather than highest or lowest income groups.
The OECD Wealth Distribution Database shows that about 12% of all households
in the 18 countries covered, are over-indebted, with this share ranging from
2% of all households in the UK and Italy to 24% in the US and Norway. Two thirds
of household debts are mortgages for the purchase of a main residence.
The new Wealth Distribution Database also shows that wealth – what you own –
is much more unequally distributed than income – what you earn. Using this new
dataset, the OECD report In it together; why less inequality benefits all released
in May 2015 showed that on average the 10% of wealthiest households hold half
of total wealth in the countries surveyed; the 40% least wealthy own little over
3%.
The database aims to address the lack of comparative evidence on inequality in
the distribution of wealth, as opposed to income. It measures household wealth
and wealth inequality across countries based on consistent definitions and clarifications,
and using a common breakdown in terms of demographic characteristics of households.
The 18 countries in the database include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Britain and the US.
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