A/HRC/29/31 may be ineffectual if those in the upper quintile or decile derive their income from wealth instead of labour. Measuring wealth inequality by looking at domestic tax data may lead to different results than if wealth distribution is measured by taking only household surveys into account. 6. When analysing inequalities, there are many other dimensions of well-being that can be taken into account apart from income and wealth. 3 Economic inequalities can be distinguished from what can be termed “social inequalities”. Social inequalities may refer to the distribution of, for instance, political power, health, education or housing among individuals in a society. In theory, a society may have health equality, for instance, when every individual has access to the same quality and quantity of health care. Social inequalities and economic inequalities may, and often do, interact with, and reinforce, one another, for instance when individuals with higher incomes or their family members have more political power or access to better education than those with lower incomes. 7. Economic and social inequalities are often categorized as “vertical inequalities”,4 referring to the distribution of something such as income, health or power. Vertical inequalities can be distinguished from “horizontal inequalities”, which are group-based differences (describing between “whom” the relevant differences occur). Horizontal inequalities may for instance refer to: inequality between men and women, between majorities and minorities, between races, between groups of people with different sexual orientations or between generations. Horizontal inequalities often overlap with vertical inequalities, for instance when women are overrepresented in lower income segments or when a racial minority is underrepresented in political bodies. 8. Current income-inequality figures are quite dramatic. According to a 2008 study by the International Labour Organization (ILO), over the past two decades the income gap between the top and bottom 10 per cent of wage earners increased in 70 per cent of the countries for which data was available. 5 According to a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study, the gap between rich and poor in OECD countries is at its highest level in 30 years.6 In 2007, the average executive manager in the 15 largest firms in the United States of America earned more than 500 times what the average employee in the United States earned, compared with over 300 times in 2003, and similar patterns can be observed in many other countries. 7 9. One indicator that gives a detailed overview of income inequalities, at least for most countries in the global North, is the World Top Incomes Database (http://topincomes.parisschoolofeconomics.eu). In the United States, in 2012, the top 1 per cent of earners received almost 20 per cent of the national income. The top 10 per cent of earners received almost half of the national income. These figures contrast sharply with those of previous decades in the United States or with figures in other developed countries. In 1973, the top 1 per cent in the United States earned approximately 8 per cent of the 3 4 5 6 7 4 See the report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission) (2009), pp. 14–15. For a more detailed explanation of the difference between vertical and horizontal inequality, see the United Nations Development Programme, Humanity Divided: Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries (New York, 2013), chap. 1. See ILO, World of Work Report 2008: Income Inequalities in the Age of Financial Globalization, p. ix. Today, the richest 10 per cent of the population in the OECD area earn 9.5 times the income of the poorest 10 per cent; in the 1980s this ratio stood at 7:1 and has been rising continuously ever since. See Federico Cingano, “Trends in income inequality and its impact on economic growth”, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, No. 163 (2014), para. 1. See ILO, World of Work, p. xi.