We assess the effects of U.S. tax policy reforms on inequality by applying a new decomposition method that allows us to disentangle mechanical effects due to changes in pre-tax incomes from direct effects of policy reforms. While tax reforms implemented under Democrat administrations, in...

The main objectives of social assistance benefits, including poverty alleviation and labor-market or social reintegration, can be seriously compromised if support is difficult to access. While recent studies point to high non-take-up rates, existing evidence does not make full use of the...

Economic events such as the recent global economic crisis can have substantial effects on the distribution of resources at the individual and household levels. Identification of appropriate and timely policy responses that support vulnerable groups is hampered by how little is known about the...

This paper proposes a novel method for identifying and visualising key employment obstacles that may prevent individuals from participating fully in the labour market. The approach is intended to complement existing sources of information that governments use when designing and implementing...

Means-tested Social Assistance (SA) benefits play an important role as social protection floors supporting households in financial difficulties. This paper presents evidence on the patterns of SA benefit receipt in a selection of OECD and EU countries. It provides an overview of the role of SA...

Childcare policies play a crucial role in helping parents reconcile care and employment related tasks. This paper quantifies the net cost of purchasing full-time centre-based childcare in OECD countries taking into account a wide range of influences on household budgets, including fees charged...

This paper analyzes how inflation-induced erosions of nominally defined amounts built into relevant tax rules ('bracket creep') alter distributional and revenue-generating properties of income taxes and social insurance contributions. Using a multi-country tax-benefit model, it provides...

Australia's economy and labour market have escaped a dramatic downturn following the global financial economic crisis. Yet, a substantial share of working-age Australians either were not working or worked only to a limited extent as the global recovery gathered pace between 2013 and 2014. 18%...

This joint study, by the World Bank and the Turkish Ministry of Development, explores the status and effects of good jobs in Turkey s current economy. After a brief account of economic events, it examines the relationship between growth and employment in Turkey, with a particular regard to the...

This report presents the results of a highly simplified profiling exercise to demonstrate the initial steps of profiling and draw some initial conclusions on the types of clients that might be covered by activation policies in Turkey, and the extent of their socio-economic vulnerability as well...