Q3 household income grew amid intensifying wealth polarization

3분기 가계소득 전년대비 소폭 늘었지만 소득격차 심화: 통계청Overall income of households here in the nation increased during the July-to-September period.But closer look reveals the gap between the richest and poorest 20-percent of households continues to grow.Kim Ji-yeon breaks down the digits for us. Data released by Statistics Korea on Thursday shows the monthly average household income during the third quarter was around 42-hundred U.S. dollars-- a nominal increase of 4-point-6-percent from the same period last year, or a 3-percent rise when adjusted for inflation.But the monthly income of households in the bottom 20-percent income bracket shrank by seven-percent on-year to less than 12-hundred dollars in Q3. In contrast, households in the top 20-percent income bracket saw their income rise by nearly nine-percent to around 86-hundred dollars on average... the eleventh consecutive quarter they have seen an on-year increase. The distribution ratio for disposable income, which shows inequality between household income brackets, increased slightly from the previous quarter to reach 5-point-5-two in Q3... on par with the level recorded in 2007 and the highest level of income inequality for the third quarter since related data was first compiled in 2003.The financial burden from tax, insurance, pension costs and interest payments on borrowings has also risen by more than 23-percent from the same period last year... the highest rate of on-year increase recorded so far to around 943 dollars a month on average in Q3.These increased expenditures have meant that disposable income has only grown by a mere zero-point-three-percent from the same period last year to 33-hundred dollars in Q3.Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.