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11 - Fair Wages and a Decent Living: Paths to Greater Vertical Equality

from Part III - Socioeconomic Rights and Economic Inequalities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2021

By
Diane F. Frey  and
Gillian MacNaughton
Edited by
Gillian MacNaughton ,
Diane Frey  and
Catherine Porter
Gillian MacNaughton
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Boston
Diane Frey
Affiliation:
San Francisco State University
Catherine Porter
Affiliation:
Lancaster University
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Summary

Since the 1980s much of the world has experienced sharp and steadily rising economic inequality (Berg 2015, 3). The cause of economic inequality’s ascendance is not a mystery. Rising inequality is a result of specific policies that enable top income earners and the wealthy to capture greater and greater shares of income and wealth (Atkinson 2015, 76; Chancel, Hough and Voituriez 2018, 8). Inequality enhancing policies include regressive income, inheritance and capital gains taxes that effectively help high income and wealthy individuals and families to preserve and build their high incomes and wealth. Rising inequality also results from policies to prevent lower wealth and income individuals and families from claiming a greater portion of income, wealth and power. These inequality enhancing policies include laws that make it more difficult for workers to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining and to influence policies (Alquist 2017).

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Chapter
Information
Human Rights and Economic Inequalities , pp. 271 - 294
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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