Objective Inequality Indexes Joining Income with Life Expectancy Through the Life Quality Index of Sub-populations

Abstract

Two indexes are developed to compare inequality: one within, the other between countries. The indexes are objective, more transparent and comprehensive. They integrate inequality of mortality with income inequality by using the Life Quality Index for sub-populations, focusing on the poorer ones, below the medians of life expectancy at birth and income together. The Life Equality Index directs attention to local inequality and can support policy interventions. The Inequality-Adjusted Life Quality Index is an alternative to the established Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index IHDI that also gives international rankings but suffers from the intrinsic shortcomings of its parent index HDI. The sub-populations are defined through the abridged life tables and third-degree polynomial approximations of the Lorenz curves. Among the countries studied, totaling over 62% of the world population, the results show that those that rank high by the Life Quality Index have also developed high internal equality and high quality-adjusted incomes. Just as the Life Quality Index generally increases with time for almost all countries, so do the equality and the quality-adjusted income, particularly for the poorer.