Changing Inequalities and Societal Impacts in Rich Countries

The seven editors together have organised and coordinated the 3.5-year Growing Inequalities' Impacts GINI project, which has generated the results reported in this volume. They are an international team drawn from different disciplines and with important and complementary expertise in the fields covered by the book. They share a history of joint publications, including edited volumes, and extensive cooperation in research networks such LoWER (European Low-wage Employment Research network, 1996-2008), Equalsoc (Network of Excellence, since 2005), and ImPRovE (Poverty Reduction in Europe: Social Policy and Innovation, since 2012).

• Foreword ; Preface ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Revisiting Grand Narratives of Growing Inequalities: Lessons From 30 Country Studies ; 3. Australia: Inequality and Prosperity and their Impacts in a Radical Welfare State ; 4. Austria: The Bastion of Calm? Stability and Change in Inequalities in Times of Welfare State Reforms and Employment Flexibilization ; 5. Between Economic Growth and Social Justice: Different Inequality Dynamics in the Baltic States ; 6. Belgium: When Growing Background Inequalities Meet Resilient Institutions ; 7. Bulgaria: Rising Inequality in the Period of Transition and Restrictive Incomes Policy ; 8. Rising Inequality and Its Impact in Canada: The Role of National Debt ; 9. Sources and Impact of Rising Inequality in Denmark ; 10. Finland: Growing Inequality with contested consequences ; 11. France: How Taxation Can Increase Inequality ; 12. Germany: Rising Inequality and the Transformation of Rhine Capitalism ; 13. Greece: The (Eventual) Social Hardship of Soft Budget Constraints ; 14. Hungary: A Country Caught in its Own Trap ; 15. Ireland: Inequality and its Impacts in Boom and Bust ; 16. Italy: How Labour Market Policies Can Foster Earnings Inequality ; 17. Rising Inequality in Japan: A Challenge Caused by Population Aging and Drastic Changes in Employment ; 18. Korea: The Great U-Turn in Inequality and the Need for Social Security Provisions ; 19. Luxembourg: Has Inequality Grown Enough to Matter? ; 20. The Netherlands: Policy-Enhanced Inequalities Tempered by Household Formation ; 21. The Rise of Inequalities in Poland and their Impacts: When Politicians Don't Care but Citizens Do ; 22. Portugal: There and Back Again, An Inequality's Tale ; 23. Romania: High Rising Inequality over Two Decades of Post Communist Transformation ; 24. Slovakia and the Czech Republic: Inequalities and Convergences after the Velvet Divorce ; 25. Slovenia: An Equal Society Despite the Transition ; 26. Spain: What Can We Learn From Past Decreasing Inequalities? ; 27. Sweden: Increasing Income Inequalities and Changing Social Relations ; 28. Divided We Fall? The Wider Consequences of High and Unrelenting Inequality in the UK ; 29. The United States: High and Rapidly-Rising Inequality ; 30. Learning from Diversity about Increasing Inequality, its Impacts, and Responses?