Essays on Inequality, Gender and Family Background

Abstract: We explore the equality of opportunity in long-run income among Swedish men and women by investigating to what extent income inequality is due to differences in circumstances, i.e., factors beyond individuals’ control, such as parental income and gender. The key idea is that a society has achieved equality of opportunity if there is no income inequality that is due to circumstances. Analyzing men and women separately, we find that circumstances account for up to 31 percent of income inequality among men and up to 25 percent among women. We conclude that there is greater equality of opportunity among women than among men. When we analyze men and women together, and treat gender as a circumstance, at most 38 percent of income inequality can be attributed to circumstances. Gender accounts for up to 13 percent of income inequality, making gender the single most important circumstance in accounting for inequality in long-run income in Sweden.