Income inequality in Swedish municipalities 1986-2013 : Development and regional patterns

• In the present report, we investigate the patterns and trends of inequality in disposable income in the working-age population in Swedish municipalities 1986-2013. This period coincided with when Sweden changed from very lowlevels of inequality to one with substantially increasing inequality. Incomes has increased in all parts of Sweden, but differences in incomes between municipalities have widened. Asa result, large parts of Sweden have become poorer in a relative, although not in a nominative sense. At the same time, income inequality has increased substantially within as well as between municipalities. Present-day Swedes live in much more unequal environments, both at the national level and in the municipalities. The large city areas, or at least part of them, have had a much more advantageous economic development, but they also became more unequal. We see a division between parts of Sweden; there are clear differentiation tendencies between urban and rural parts, centre and periphery. Another finding is that the relation between mean income and income inequality has changed from the 1980s to the present. This association was negative a couple of decades ago, meaning that inequality was somewhat higher in poorer municipalities. From the 1990s onwards, the association is instead positive – affluent municipalities are more unequal.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

befolkningsstudier

Population studies

Economics

nationalekonomi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

rap (ämneskategori)