Income Inequality Grows Among Japanese Households

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:52 JST, August 22, 2023

Income inequality among households has increased around the country, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

According to the 2021 Survey on the Redistribution of Income, the Gini coefficient, which indicates the size of income inequality, was 0.5700, 0.0106 points higher than the previous survey.

This figure, based on initial income before taxes and social insurance contributions, was at the same level as in 2014, the largest year since the survey started.

The ministry attributes this to the aging of the population and the increase in the number of people with low initial incomes.