Israel, the US have worst inequality in OECD

When it comes to inequality, Israel is second only to the United States among developed nations, an OECD report says.

In Israel, the richest 10 percent earn 15 times more than the poorest 10%, a lot more the average gap between haves and have-nots among OECD nations, which is 9.6 times.

The average income of the top 10 percent in the US was 19 times higher than the bottom 10 percent in 2013. The US figure rose from just 11 times higher 30 years ago, the OECD says.

The report also says Israel is failing to increase sufficiently the participation of women in the workforce, a key driver for reducing inequality.

“There’s a [long] way to go in Israel to get the female employment rates higher,” says Mark Pearson, the author of the report.

An Israeli woman searches for objects in a garbage container in Jerusalem, April 2, 2015 (photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Policies to improve women’s treatment in the labor market and measures to reverse the growing share of low-quality, “dead-end” jobs are key to reducing income inequality and unlocking more economic growth, the OECD says.

“Put simply: rising inequality is bad for long-term growth,” the OECD concludes in the report, which is titled “In It Together, Why Less Inequality Benefits All.”

AP contributed to this post.