Poverty and income inequality in Luxembourg and the Grande Région in comparative perspective

This paper adopts a comparative framework and examines rates of poverty and income inequality for Luxembourg between the mid-1980s and 2000. A dataset for the Grande Région, which combines data from four countries, is also constructed in order to perform cross- and inter-regional analyses. We find that levels of poverty and income inequality in Luxembourg are among the lowest in the world and that the « depth » of poverty is comparatively low. In addition, we examine the so-called trade-off between growth and inequality and conclude that the mix of « pro-growth » and « pro-poor » policies is appropriate in Luxembourg. When examining the Grande Région, we show that Luxembourg stands apart as one of the richest regions in Europe and that disposable incomes in Luxembourg are some 70% higher than in the neighbouring regions. Finally, we conclude with a discussion on Luxembourg’s social policy and call for improvements to the data currently available.