The top 1% – Capturing up to 37% in Canada and 47% in the United States, according to new OECD analysis (video)

The share of the richest 1% in total pre-tax income have increased in most OECD countries over the past three decades. This rise is the result of the top 1% capturing a disproportionate share of overall income growth over that timeframe: up to 37% in Canada and 47% in the United States, according to new OECD analysis.

Even in countries which have a history of a more equal income distribution, such as Finland, Norway and Sweden, the share of the top 1% increased by 70%, reaching around 7-8%. By contrast, top earners saw their share grow much less in some of the continental European countries, including France, the Netherlands and Spain.

But the incomes of the poorest households have not kept pace with overall income growth, with many no better off than they were in the mid-1980s. Stripping out the richest 1 percent of the population leaves income growth rates considerably lower in many countries – which is why so many people have not felt their incomes rising in line with overall economic growth.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Social and welfare issues – OECD.

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