Increases in household income inequality have been largely driven by changes in the distribution of wages and salaries which account for 75% of household incomes of working-age adults. With very few exceptions (France, Japan and Spain), wages of the 10% best-paid workers have risen relative to those of the 10% least-paid workers. This was due both to growing earnings’ shares at the top and declining shares at the bottom, but top earners saw their incomes rising particularly sharply (Atkinson, 2009). The highest 10% of earners have been leaving the middle earners behind more rapidly than the lowest earners have been drifting away from the middle.

OECD:n tuoreen raportin mukaan tuloerot ovat selvässä kasvussa lähes kaikissa OECD-maissa. Keskimäärin OECD-maiden rikkaimman 10 prosentin tulot ovat yhdeksänkertaiset verrattuna köyhimmän 10 prosentin tuloihin. Suuri osa tuloerojen kasvusta perustuu palkkojen jakautumisen muutokseen, mutta myös pääomatulojen kasvulla on raportin mukaan ollut näkyvää merkitystä – erityisesti pohjoismaissa.