Inequality Worst In Decades In Range Of Countries: OECD

The gap between the rich and poor varies widely across OECD member states and is often narrower in many Continental European nations and the Nordic countries, according to the report.

But the average income ratio between the richest 10 per cent and the poorest 10 per cent skyrockets in other member states.

It "reaches around 10 to 1 in Italy, Japan, Korea, Portugal and the United Kingdom, between 13 and 16 to 1 in Greece, Israel, Turkey and the United States, and between 27 and 30 to 1 in Mexico and Chile."

The report argues that expanding income inequality has negatively affected the economies of member countries, estimating that it has knocked more than 10 percentage points off growth in Mexico and New Zealand.

"In the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and Norway, the growth rate would have been more than one fifth higher had income disparities not widened," it said.

At the same time, according to the OECD's calculations, greater equality helped boost GDP per capita in Spain, France and Ireland prior to the economic crisis.

The report called for anti-poverty programmes along with increased access to high-quality education, training and healthcare.

(With PTI INPUTS)

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