Abstract
Research background
Income inequalities between women and men often constitute an important area of research related to social inequalities. Differences in incomes between genders are frequently analyzed in the context of gender equality, social justice, and economic equity. Disparities in wages between women and men are observed in many societies. A key tool in studying wage and income distributions, as well as income inequalities, is the approximation of theoretical models to empirical data. Another important tool is the use of income inequality measures. Research on income distributions between women and men is significant for various reasons, including facilitating an understanding of social and economic inequalities.
Purpose
In Europe, there is diversity in economic models, with individual countries adopting different approaches to organizing their economic systems. The paper considers four European countries representing diverse economic approaches. A comparative analysis of income inequality between men and women was conducted in the countries under consideration.
Research methodology
The study used data from the Central European Bank from 2017. All analyzes were based on the Dagum model. The maximum likelihood method was used to estimate the model parameters. The Theil coefficient decomposition was also applied.
Results
The analysis reveals that men earn the highest incomes in all countries. Visualization of the Lorenz and Zenga curves, along with calculated inequality indices, showed that the greatest income inequalities occur in women’s incomes in all cases. Interestingly, it was found that men’s incomes make the largest contribution to the overall income inequalities.
Novelty
The paper explores the topic of income inequality, which is a significant and contemporary socioeconomic challenge. It utilizes statistical information from the Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption (HFCS) to examine and assess the financial status of households, focusing on both genders, in Finland, Germany, Poland, and Spain.