GINI Country Report: Growing Inequalities and their Impacts in France

Inequality has increased in France between 1980 and 2010 but the timing and magnitude are not the same across the fields we study. Income inequality has followed a U-shaped curve over the period 1980-2010. During the 1970s and the 1980s, income inequality has decreased (by 15%). Then, after a period of stability during the early 1990s, inequality has started to rise. Thus, the levels of income inequality in 1980 and in 2010 are very close. This trend is slightly different across the income definitions (before or after taxes and transfers) and across inequality indicators. Most of the recent increase comes from the top of the distribution. Capital income tends to explain a large share of this evolution but, and this is new in France, wage inequality has also contributed to this growth. The distribution of earnings among full-time workers has remained fairly stable. However, the increase in labor income inequality is explained by the growing duality of the labor market but also by a boom in earnings at the top of the distribution.