before redistributive policies, went to the top 10% of earners, up from 34% in 1980.3 When we think of inequality within countries, the main factors driving increases in inequality in advanced economies include globalisation, technological progress and taxation.4 Globalisation and technological progress have adversely affected the wages and employment of lower-skilled labour, while declines in the progressiveness of the tax system in some countries has contributed to increases in post-tax inequality.
Overall therefore, the rise in income inequality has been driven mainly by structural policies and long-term secular trends. Taking a more global perspective – that is, across countries – global income inequality has actually decreased since the 1980s. This is mainly as a result of relatively stronger economic growth in developing countries, when compared with developed economies.