Inequality and income redistribution in new EU member states: Ruptures and continuity
Résumé
The EU's new member states with the highest level of inequality in individual income since 2000 are the same as those that had the highest level during the Communist era. How to explain this persistent inequality, which has withstood systemic changes? During the first decade of the new century, ethnic and language fragmentation in all EU member states were a hindrance to income redistribution via the welfare system. From a historical perspective, it is hypothesized that the presence of ethnic and language minorities in some countries has been a factor, since 2000 as well as during the Communist period, accounting for both the low level of income redistribution and the high inequality in individual incomes.