This book states that inequality has become one of central policy issues across the world. We study trends of inequality in earnings, income, and wealth across households in Japan, using the National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure (NSFIE) from 1984 to 2014. Inequality in earnings, income, and wealth all increased during the last three decades. Changes in earnings and income inequality were mostly driven by demographic aging and a shift of the population to the elderly, who tend to have higher inequality. The wealth inequality rose not only in the aggregate but also among the young, and this is due to a major increase in the fraction of households who own zero or very low wealth across all age groups, rather than an increase in the concentration of wealth in the top as in some other countries such as the USA. Critical factors in understanding inequality trends in Japan that we identified are aging demographics, changes in the household structure, and macroeconomic trends of the past decades including the financial bubble period and a decades-long slow-down thereafter.

Sagiri Kitao is a senior economist at Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and Professor at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). She received her Master in Public Administration/International Development from Harvard University in 2001 and a Ph.D. in Economics from New York University in 2007. Prior to her current position, she was a professor at University of Tokyo and Keio University, an associate professor at Hunter College of the City University of New York (2011–2015), senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2009–2011), and assistant professor at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007–2009), as well as financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo (1996–1999). Her research interests focus on macroeconomics and public policies.

She has published numerous papers in academic journals and books on these topics including American Economic Review, Journal of Monetary Economics, and Review of Economic Dynamics and is a frequent speaker at seminars and presentations.

Tomoaki Yamada is a professor of Economics at the School of Commerce, Meiji University. After graduating from St. Paul’s University, he received an MA and Ph.D. in Economics from Hitotsubashi University in 2005. Prior to his current position, he was an assistant professor at Rissho University (2006–2009) and a visiting researcher at the University College London (2015–2016). He is a member of the Econometric Society, American Economic Association, European Economic Association, and Japanese Economic Association.

His research interest includes heterogeneity in macroeconomics, consumption and savings, population aging and social security system. He has published numerous papers in academic journals on these topics including Review of Economic Dynamics, International Economic Review, Scandinavian Journal of Economics and Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control.