Regressive tax relief and current tax treatment of gifts and inheritance are resulting in high wealth inequality, according to a new report, Inheritance Taxation in OECD Countries. A reform of inheritance tax, which raises only 0.5% of total tax revenues, could reduce wealth concentration and enhance equality of opportunity.

Real household income per capita fell by 1.4% in the OECD area in Q4 2020, despite a 1% rise in real GDP per capita. It is the largest quarterly decline in household incomes since Q1 2013, although France and UK saw slight increases. For the year as a whole, real household incomes per capita still outpaced real GDP per capita.

For Earth Day 22 April, see OECD action to restore our earth, including our Green Recovery Database and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría’s climate lecture and conversation with Laurence Tubiana and Nicholas Stern, which took place 21 April.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought worldwide social and economic disruption, but also provides governments with the opportunity of a fundamental reset and putting economies on a more sustainable and inclusive growth path, according to the OECD’s report, Going for Growth 2021: Shaping a Vibrant Recovery.

Foreign aid for development from official donors rose to an all-time high of USD 161.2 billion in 2020, up 3.5% in real terms from 2019, boosted by efforts to help developing countries address COVID-19. Still, this total came to only 1% of the amount countries have mobilised in stimulus measures for their own economies, preliminary data show.

One way of gauging the effect of COVID-19 on employment is to examine online advertising for job postings. A survey of five countries shows the rise in the requirement of working from home, and points to strong demand for technical skills in the health sector, and for communications and team work skills.

OECD Podcast: International Women's Day on 8 March is important this year as COVID-19 threatens decades of progress towards gender equality. In this tale of two cities, Mayor Lisa Helps of Victoria in Canada and Diana Rodriguez Franco, Secretary of Women's Issues in Bogotá, Colombia, explain how women in leadership can make a difference.