Australia scores high on equality
04 June 2015 by News Desk
Australia has scored highly in the latest global report on equality.
Compared to the rest of the OECD Australia ranks highly on equality and unlike a majority of nations Australia’s inequality during the global financial crisis actually decreased.
In Australia, wealth inequality is less than the average in the OECD, and well below the US. In the US the top 10% hold 75% of the total wealth in the nation while in Australia the richest 10% hold only 44.9% – below the OECD average of 50%.
Australia emerged from the global financial crisis more equal than when it entered. The reasons include only a small rise in unemployment, a large increase in pensions in 2009, and the decline in income of the wealthiest due to falls in the share market.
The report estimates that if inequality in the US was improved to the level that exists in Australia, their annual GDP growth would increase by 0.3% over 25 years. This would mean in 25 years their economy would be 7% bigger than it otherwise would have been.
