This paper examines income inequality over stages of the later-life course (age 45 and older) and systems that can be used to mitigate this inequality. Two hypotheses are tested: Levels of income inequality decline during old age because public benefits are more equally distributed than work...

Using data from the mid-1990s from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), we analyze for several household types the effect of mothers' work participation on families' relative income position and poverty risk. Results are compared across seven European countries with contrasting family policies:...

This paper examines gender differentials in the resources of households and individuals across seven welfare states. In its first part, it asks whether female-headed households can secure a living income without recourse to either the state or the income of a male partner. It then steps inside...

One of the most frequently expressed concerns about the unprecedented economic boom that Ireland experienced in the second half of the 1990s has been that the benefits were not shared evenly, that rising living standards were accompanied by widening gaps leaving Ireland with a particularly...

This paper examines variation in old-age income inequality between industrialized nations with modern welfare systems. The analysis of income inequality across countries with different retirement income systems provides a perspective on public pension policy choices and designs and their...

Using two period comparisons of six wealthy nations, the authors look at the extent of inequality at three levels of income: earned income, market income, and after tax and transfer disposable income. Interesting implications of the results are discussed.

Using LIS data the author explores the possibility that markets, the public sector, or demographic shifts affect the changing distribution of income among families in five industrialized countries in the 1980s.

It is widely held that people who work have no difficulty in avoiding poverty and guaranteeing their family a decent standard of living. This idea has proved false, as many authors have shown that the ranks of the poor are filled with active people, sometimes even working full time. But,...

Using LIS data, Jäntti examines levels and trends in income inequality among families in five industrialized countries, namely Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, exploring the possibility that markets, the public sector or demographic shifts would...

This paper was originally presented a the Fourth International Research Seminar of the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) in June 1997 in Sigtuna, Sweden. In the United States, several public policy initiatives have been undertaken to encourage more work and later...