The Level of Income Inequalities and Redistribution Policies in European Union Countries

Abstract

<jats:p>The article addresses issues concerning the level of income inequalities in the countries of the European Union in 2010 and 2018. Subject literature and secondary Eurostat data were used in order to achieve the aim of the study. The obtained results confirmed the presence of a large variability in the level of income inequalities between countries of the European Union. Bulgaria and Lithuania were the countries characterized by the biggest income inequalities. The smallest income disproportions, independent of the interference of the state, occurred in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. In addition, in 2018, a relatively large drop in inequality in Poland, as well as an increase in inequality in Luxembourg, Sweden and the Netherlands was observed. The study conducted allows to confirm the hypothesis assumed at the beginning, which states that in countries that are part of the European Community, the governments effectively contribute to the reduction in income inequalities by means of taxes and social remittances. However, a decrease in so-called the Gini gap in most European Union countries means that the effectiveness of redistribution has been decreasing.</jats:p>

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Changes in the Employment Level of Parents Receiving a Child Benefit From the Family 500+ Program in Poland

“…This is a very important issue because poverty -as well as demographic potential, which in peripheral and remote regions is assessed as negative -seriously threatens the development of rural areas [Pomianek and Kapaj 2018]. The lack of adequate income causes a kind of feedback loop and is both a cause and a consequence of the deprivation of needs and also favors the unsustainable development of rural areas [Kalinowski 2018, Raczkowska andWrzesińska-Kowal 2019].…”