Abstract:
This paper provides an empirical analysis of annual income and expenditure inequality
in New Zealand over a thirty-year period from the early 1980s. The extent of redistribution
through the tax and benefit system is also explored. Household Economic
Survey data are used for each year from 1983/84 to 1997/98 inclusive, 2000/01 and
2003/04 , and for each year from 2006/07. Survey calibration methods are used to
examine inequality on the assumption that a range of (approximately 50) population
characteristics remain constant over the period. Furthermore, decomposition methods
are used to examine the separate contributions to changing inequality of population
ageing, changes in labour force participation and household structure.
