Income Poverty, Affluence and Polarisation Viewed From The Median

Rolf Aaberge, Anthony B. Atkinson and Henrik Sigstad

Published 12 July 2016

The present paper brings together different features of the distribution of income – poverty, affluence and dispersion – in a single framework that allows ready comparisons across countries. We believe that such a unified framework contributes both to the policy debate and to the theoretical understanding of inequality. There are at present largely separate literatures on the measurement of poverty, and (to a limited degree) affluence, and on bi-polariszation. In relation to the EU social indicators, the paper may be seen as providing complementary information.