Top wealth shares in Australia 1915-2012

Combining data from surveys, inheritance tax records, and rich lists, we estimate top wealth shares for Australia from World War I until the present day. We find that the top 1 percent share declined by two-thirds from 1915 until the late 1960s, and rose from the late 1970s to 2010. The recent increase is sharpest at the top of the distribution, with the top 0.001 percent wealth share tripling from 1984 to 2012. The trend in top wealth shares is similar to that in Australian top income shares (though the drop in the first half of the twentieth century is larger for wealth than income shares). Since the early twentieth century, top wealth shares in Australia have been lower than in the U.K. and U.S

Perks of the Job: The Distribution of Non-cash Wage Income in Australia in the 1980s

This report addresses an issue which grew in significance in Australia during the 1980s, but which has been of importance for some considerable time - the role of non-cash fringe benefits or 'perks of the job' in influencing the nature and extent of inequality amongst the Australian workforce. Paid employment remains the most important single factor in explaining the overall extent of income inequality and it is important that the analysis of wage and salary incomes also takes account of the non-monetary fringe benefits which are tied to monetary remuneration, access to which is restricted to those in the labour market in paid employment. This report investigates several dimensions of this issue and will, we hope, stimulate further work in this important area

Inequality, Living Standards and the Social Wage During the 1980s

This report addresses the role of the social wage in maintaining the living standards of Australian households and mitigating the rise in inequality in the latter half of the 1980s. The results show the important role of social wage policies over the period and highlight the way in which Medicare and other health programs, education provisions and income transfers redistribute resources within and between groups in the population. Amongst other things, the results reported here highlight how the picture of living standards which emerges from studies focusing on trends in cash income only reveals only part of the whole story

How Much Do We Know About Wealth Distribution in Australia?

This paper surveys what is known about wealth distribution in Australia and concludes that our knowledge is scanty. The most reliable evidence comes from studies using probate returns and with the abolition of estate duties, these studies are becoming out of date. However, it is clear that wealth is very unequally distributed. The top 5 per cent of adult individuals own between 40 and 50 per cent of the wealth. This inequality is not just due to life cycle effects, and there is no strong evidence that wealth distribution has become more equal in Australia in the period since the First World War. Copyright 1984 The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.

Economic Inequality in Australia Volume I: Government and Redistribution

The idea that a Study of Social and Economic Inequalities (SSEI) should be undertaken in Australia was first proposed in 1988 by the then Minister for Social Security, Brian Howe. The main focus of the Study is to shed new light on various dimensions of inequality in Australia - both economic and social - and to investigate the factors causing them. The research involves the analysis of existing data rather than the collection of new data, a task which has been facilitated by the public availability of unit record and other data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. By adopting an empirical approach, the study will inform the development of government policies directed at alleviating those forms of inequality requiring policy action. Some of the work is being conducted in an international comparative context, thus providing a framework in which we in Australia can learn from experience in other countries where appropriate. The five main themes of the Study are: Money Income Inequality, Poverty and Living Standards in Australia; Non-Monetary Benefits and Income Inequality; Factors Contributing to Inequalities in Monetary Income; Economic Inequality over the Family Life Cycle; and International Dimensions of Inequality and Redistribution. As Directors of the Study, one of our first tasks was to bring together researchers associated with the Study and with other organisations in Australia in order to review what is currently known about inequality in Australia. To this end, a two day Conference was held at the University of New South Wales in July 1991. This report contains some of the papers presented at that Conference, organised under the theme: ‘Government and Redistribution’. The other main theme ‘Some Factors Causing Inequality', is covered in SSEI Monograph No. 2. Together these reports represent an overview of the current state of knowledge and point to areas where further research is required. Some of that research will be conducted as part of the Study and will be reported on in due course

Economic Inequality in Australia Volume 2: Some Factors Causing Inequality

The idea that a Study of Social and Economic Inequalities (SSEI) should be undertaken in Australia was first proposed in 1988 by the then Minister for Social Security, Brian Howe. The main focus of the Study is to shed new light on various dimensions of inequality in Australia - both economic and social - and to investigate the factors causing them. The research involves the analysis of existing data rather than the collection of new data, a task which has been facilitated by the public availability of unit record and other data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. By adopting an empirical approach, the study will inform the development of government policies directed at alleviating those forms of inequality requiring policy action. Some of the work is being conducted in an international comparative context, thus providing a framework in which we in Australia can learn from experience in other countries where appropriate. The five main themes of the Study are: Money Income Inequality, Poverty and Living Standards in Australia; Non-Monetary Benefits and Income Inequality; Factors Contributing to Inequalities in Monetary Income; Economic Inequality over the Family Life Cycle; and International Dimensions of Inequality and Redistribution. As Directors of the Study, one of our first tasks was to bring together researchers associated with the Study and with other organisations in Australia in order to review what is currently known about inequality in Australia. To this end, a two day Conference was held at the University of New South Wales in July 1991. This report contains some of the papers presented at that Conference, organised under the theme: ‘Some Factors Causing Inequality’. The other main theme ‘Government and Redistribution', is covered in SSEI Monograph No. 1. Together these reports represent an overview of the current state of knowledge and point to areas where further research is required. Some of that research will be conducted as part of the Study and will be reported on in due course