Rising inequality has become such a widespread concern in rich countries primarily because it is seen to be associated with long-term stagnation in living standards for ordinary working households, compounded by the Great Recession. This book presents the findings of a comprehensive analysis of performance in improving ordinary living standards over recent decades across the wealthy nations of the OECD. It relates the wide variation in this performance to overall economic growth, exploring why these often diverge substantially and how much this is due to increasing inequality. Analysis of the underlying causal processes highlights the complexity of the impacts of globalization and technological change on individual wages and household incomes. Other aspects of living standards are also incorporated, including non-monetary indicators of deprivation and financial strain, wealth and its distribution, and intergenerational mobility. By looking across this broad canvas, the book draws important lessons for how best to pursue the quest for inclusive growth and prosperity.

A two-day conference on Generating Inclusive Growth, co-organised by INET and the OECD's Centre for Opportunity and Equality, was held at Nuffield College on 8 and 9 November. At the conference key findings from two volumes published by Oxford University Press from INET's Employment, Equity and Growth Programme, edited by its director Brian Nolan, were presented: Generating Prosperity for Working Families in Affluent CountriesGenerating Prosperity for Working Families in Affluent Countries and the companion volume comprising ten country case studies: Inequality and Inclusive Growth: Shared Challenges and Contrasting Fortunes.

The conference also heard presentations from the OECD and from other Oxford academics on various aspects of inequality, redistribution and inclusive growth.