Household income growth is lagging behind GDP per capita. This is why

Aug 31, 2016

New homes sit next to undeveloped lots in a subdivision in San Marcos, California February 29, 2012. As the greatest real estate fire sale in the history of the United States rages on, the bulk buy is the hottest of the hot deals. In some of the most foreclosure-ravaged parts of the country, it's almost as if the housing market has become the new big box store and investors are wiping out the whole shelf.

We find that while GDP per capita has outpaced the median in most OECD countries, the US is a clear outlier in the extent of that divergence. Image: REUTERS/Mike Blake

Brian Nolan

Professor of Social Policy and Director of Employment, Equity, and Growth Programme, Institute for New Economic Thinking

Max Roser

Programme Director, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford

Stefan Thewissen

Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oxford

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Economic Progress

Comparing the evolution in GDP per capita to median household income

Image: VoxEU

Decomposing the divergence between median household income and GDP per capita for the US

Image: VoxEU

Decomposing the divergence between GDP per capita and median household income across 27 countries

Image: VoxEU

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