The global economy is recovering and moving back to cruising speed. The upswing in the global economic outlook creates significant opportunities to consolidate the global economic recovery ten years after the crisis, while providing the basis to address inequalities. The recovery has yet to translate fully into income gains for all groups as market insecurity and the low-income rate remain high in several OECD countries compared with their levels before the 2008 crisis (OECD, 2018f). The poverty risk has also increased in most OECD countries over the period between the mid-2000s-2015 (OECD, 2017b). Considering that the decade before the crisis has seen high levels of growth, but also increased inequalities in some countries, it is important to ensure that the return of economic dynamism benefits all.

The financial crisis revealed the significant limits of existing economic growth models, including the assumption that growing the pie is enough to generate improvements in well-being for all. A focus on pro-growth policies that target efficiency in isolation has led some governments to follow policy options that have brought about unintended social consequences. The debt-to-assets ratio of the bottom wealth quintile reached on average 123% in 2014 across OECD countries. Similarly, the average gap between the bottom and top quintile leverages amounted to 117 percentage points’ gap in 2014 across OECD countries. Mortgages and consumer loans contracts have often not been sufficiently secured or compiled with other assets through securitisation, particularly for the low-income groups (André, 2016).

At the 2017 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, Ministers of OECD Member countries stated that growth should be strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive. Ministers asked the OECD to work through its committees and relevant bodies on the development of a Framework for Policy Action on Inclusive Growth for the 2018 Ministerial Council Meeting, and to document inequalities of income and opportunities through a comprehensive evidence-based analysis [C/MIN(2017)9/FINAL].