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DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS AND CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA BETWEEN 1975 AND 1993
Author(s) -
Barreti Garry F.,
Crossley Tomas F.,
Worswick Christopher
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
review of income and wealth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.024
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1475-4991
pISSN - 0034-6586
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4991.2000.tb00410.x
Subject(s) - inequality , consumption (sociology) , economics , gini coefficient , demographic economics , economic inequality , distribution (mathematics) , population , income distribution , demography , sociology , mathematics , mathematical analysis , social science
We examine trends in consumption inequality among Australian households using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Household Expenditure Surveys collected over the period 1975 to 1993. We find that the distribution of consumption is much more equal than that of income and that both income and consumption inequality rose by significant amounts over the period. However, consumption inequality rose by much less (the Gini coefficient for income inequality rose by 17 percent while that for nondurable consumption rose by 9 percent). We then examine the effects of demographic trends, specifically population aging and changing family structures, and find they account for only a minor fraction in the overall growth in economic inequality.