Abstract.
Most recent studies on poverty and inequality in developed countries focus on income. In contrast, this paper presents trends in consumption-based poverty and inequality in nine member countries of the European Union. During the 1980s, both poverty and inequality increased in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium, while decreases in both poverty and inequality are observed for Spain and Portugal. In Greece only inequality increased. For most countries for which income-based results are available, these move in the same direction as the consumption-based results. However, this sensitivity analysis yields considerable differences in the ranking of countries and the magnitude of the changes.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: 13 June 1997/Accepted: 29 February 2000
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zaidi, M., de Vos, K. Trends in consumption-based poverty and inequality in the European Union during the 1980s. J Popul Econ 14, 367–390 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001480000038
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001480000038