Demographic changes – are they the reason for increasing inequality?

Authors

  • Bent Greve Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0502-4389
  • M. Azhar Hussain Department of Finance and Economics, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, UAE, and Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v11i2.1172
Abstract Views: 121 PDF Downloads: 40

Keywords:

inequality, demography, Nordic welfare states, re-centered influence function, decomposition

Abstract

A high degree of equality has for a long time been a central feature of the Nordic welfare states – Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. This article shows that the overall increasing levels of inequality only to a limited degree can be explained by changes in demographic factors such as more elderly people, more living alone, an increasing share participating in longer-term education, and rising levels of assortative mating. There thus seems to be a small impact of demographic changes. Therefore, one also needs to be aware of the impact of political decisions when explaining development in inequality though a large part of inequality development is still unexplained. There are differences in the impact on inequality between the Nordic countries, although the countries belong to the same welfare regime cluster, which implies that even if demographic changes have an impact one needs to look into other factors as well in order to explain observed changes in all countries included in the analysis.

Author Biographies

Bent Greve, Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

Bent Greve is Professor in Social Science at the University of Roskilde in Denmark. His research focuses on the welfare state and social and labour market policies, often from a comparative perspective. He has published extensively on social and labour market policies, social security, tax expenditures, and public sector expenditures. He is currently the editor of Social Policy & Administration and his recent books include Rethinking Welfare and the Welfare State (2022, Edward Elgar), Myths, Narratives and Welfare States (2021, Edward Elgar), Austerity, and Retrenchment and the Welfare State (2020, Edward Elgar).

M. Azhar Hussain, Department of Finance and Economics, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, UAE, and Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

M. Azhar Hussain is Professor at Roskilde University in Denmark. His research focuses on income distribution and consumption possibilities in an attempt to understand inequality, poverty, deprivation, polarization, health, socioeconomic indicators, subjective well-being, and robust multidimensional rankings of welfare. Geographically, he covers Denmark in particular and the European Union and other developing countries in general. His publications have appeared in peer-reviewed journals, books, and newspapers both nationally and internationally.

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Published

2026-01-05

How to Cite

[1]
Greve, B. and Hussain, M.A. 2026. Demographic changes – are they the reason for increasing inequality?. Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics. 11, 2 (Jan. 2026), 183–204. DOI:https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v11i2.1172.

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2025): Privatized childhoods: The decreasing role of the state in childcare services

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Articles

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