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Abstract
Differentiating between the sensitivity of income inequality to male income and
female income, and decomposing inequality by income determinants, we find that
total income inequality is less sensitive to female income variability or the level of
female income than to male income variability or the level of male income. Uniform
increases in education reduce income inequality, with female education having a
larger effect than male education. The fraction of minority populations has a positive
effect on inequality, but this operates mostly through female income. All this suggests
that female income is the most adequate target for inequality-reducing policy, and that
within-household gender equality is good for reducing income inequality among
households.