Brian Nolan - A Comparative Perspective on the Evolution of Income Inequality and Ordinary Living Standards in Belgium since the 1980s
Concern about growing income inequality emerged in the USA and the UK from the late 1980s, reflecting the scale of increases in inequality observed there over the previous decade, and became more generalized across the rich world in the 1990s and into the new century. The global financial crisis of 2008-10, subsequent slow growth, and the Covid-19 pandemic also brought concerns about ordinary living standards centre-stage. Against this background we assess Belgium’s experience in terms of the evolution of income inequality and the living standards of ordinary households since the 1980s compared with other rich countries. Building on the Growing Inequalities’ Impacts (GINI) collaborative research programme (Salverda et al, 2014, Nolan et al, 2014) and the similar blend of comparative analysis and individual country studies in Nolan (2018a, b), we see that, rather than closely following a common pattern, trends in both income inequality and growth in median income – a key indicator of ordinary living standards – have varied widely across the rich countries. Examining Belgium’s experience in that comparative context suggests that while income inequality did rise since the mid/late 1980s the scale of that increase was relatively modest, and this was combined with a respectable rate of growth in median incomes compared with the relatively low increases seen in quite a few comparator countries. Measurement and data have to be taken seriously in any such exercise and key considerations in that regard both generally and in the specific case of Belgium are discussed.
See Prof. Nolan's Lecture Recording
The seminar took place on Wednesday 11th of March 2026