The fall in income inequality during COVID-19 in four European countries

Andrew E Clark; Conchita D'Ambrosio; Anthony Lepinteur

doi:10.1007/s10888-021-09499-2

The fall in income inequality during COVID-19 in four European countries

J Econ Inequal. 2021;19(3):489-507. doi: 10.1007/s10888-021-09499-2. Epub 2021 Aug 8.

Authors

Andrew E Clark¹, Conchita D'Ambrosio², Anthony Lepinteur²

Affiliations

¹ Paris School of Economics - CNRS, Paris, France.
² University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.

Abstract

We here use panel data from the COME-HERE survey to track income inequality during COVID-19 in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Relative inequality in equivalent household disposable income among individuals changed in a hump-shaped way between January 2020 and January 2021, with an initial rise from January to May 2020 being more than reversed by September 2020. Absolute inequality also fell over this period. Due to the pandemic some households lost more than others, and government compensation schemes were targeted towards the poorest, implying that on average income differences decreased. Generalized Lorenz domination reveals that these distributive changes reduced welfare in Italy.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10888-021-09499-2.

Keywords: COME-HERE; COVID-19; Income inequality.