Maria Grazia Pittau

A dwindling middle class? Italian evidence in the 2000's

 

 

Abstract

 

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to
household impoverishment in Italy. Most of previous analyses
dealing with this issue are based on summary statistics, which may
not capture the whole the income distribution. 

This paper employs a non-parametric tool, the ``relative distribution'', to describe
patterns of changes in the entire Italian household income scale
over the period 2000--2004. This approach also allows for a
decomposition of the relative density to isolate changes due to
differences in location from changes due to differences in shape,
thus enabling deeper analysis of income polarization. 

During the 2000's there was a significant location effect, and also increased
income polarization, which has particularly affected incomes below
the median. Analyses by social groups, according to the employment
status of the household head, show significant re-distribution
effects within groups.

The Journal of Economic Inequality, forthcoming, 2008.