Income Situation and Living Situation in Austria. Findings on a Neglected Dimension

Value creation and its changes over time are most frequently observed to comprehensively describe populations' well-being and prosperity. However, this is not enough to make meaningful comparisons of the economic situation between countries and regions at different times. So far, distribution analyses have been based mainly on the distribution of disposable income at household level according to social aspects, or the different levels of income of individuals according to gender. The distribution of important indicators of wealth, such as income or poverty at regional level within a country, is at least as important. However, little attention has so far been paid to the small-scale regional dimension of income disparities or the living situation. Evaluations are only available at federal level. The article summarises the findings for Austria and presents current data and new approaches to describe local differences in living conditions. The main focus is on individual income and household income in Austria and on a new index for measuring the living situation at local level including income, age, qualification and employment aspects. Widely used typologies in regional economics and geography are used.