Post 2015: Global Action for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

deprivation, whether directly or through a broader
focus on inequality.
5.2.5 A rise in income inequality
trends in inequality are central to the persistence
of poverty amid plenty. Inequality can be assessed
globally, between countries and at a national level.
a careful look at patterns of prevailing inequalities,
and how they are divided within and between
countries, can offer particular insights into what
types of redistribution might be most effective, and
where an international agreement seeking to reduce
inequalities might focus.
the relationship between growth, income
inequality and poverty reduction is straightforward
– everything else being equal, inequality increases
poverty whatever the level of growth. Globally,
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Q2
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between 1981 and 2005, while the impact of
economic growth enabled hundreds of millions
of people to overcome poverty, greater inequality
meant than nearly 600 million people who would
otherwise have done so were denied that chance
(Hillebrand, 2009:7).
as the global economy becomes more integrated,
it has been argued that the distribution of income
among the global population is increasingly
important because of greater cross-border
movements and the influence of global standards
on people’s perceptions of their situation and their
aspirations (milanovic, 2012). a recent study of
global inequality estimates a Gini coefficient at
about 0.7 (where 0 denotes complete equality, and 1
represents the maximum level of inequality): ‘this
is almost certainly the highest level of relative, and
Figure 5.3 Global Income distributed by percentiles of the population in 2007
(or latest available) in PPP constant 2005 international dollars
Each horizontal band represent an
equal fifth of the world’s population
Source: Ortiz and Cummins, 2011
Persons below
$1.25/day (22%)
Persons below
$2/day (40%)
poSt-2015: Global actIon For an IncluSIvE anD SuStaInablE FuturE
Globally, between
1981 and 2005,
while the impact
of economic
growth enabled
hundreds of
millions of people
to overcome
poverty, greater
inequality meant
than nearly 600
million people
who would
otherwise have
done so were
denied that
chance.
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