ABSTRACT
This chapter presents inequality within the European Union (EU) as a whole and not in its individual states, an issue that is of some relevance in a community of states that is referred to as a ‘union’. It provides some comparisons with the United States (US) and suggest that can be used to reduce inequality in the EU as a whole should this become a policy objective. The difference between inequality in market incomes and in disposable incomes reflects the redistributive action of the state. The chapter considers two variables: the rate of change in market inequality and that of disposable income, grouping countries on the basis of the sign and magnitude of these two rates. In many cases, redistribution has prevented the worsening of market inequality from turning into an equal worsening of available income inequality. Income inequality in Europe as a whole and its comparison with the US has been a subject of attention for a long time.
