Impact of foreign exchange crisis on Household Income Structure

Abstract

This study analyses the changes in household income structure before and after the Foreign Exchange Crisis, and measures the direction and size of contributions of a number of different income sources at the household level. Based on the wage-earner household sample in Urban Household Income and Expenditure Survey, it is found that there is an increasing reliance on assets and debts instruments among the top 30% of income distribution since 1999. The bottom 30% of the income distribution tend to rely more on the wage income of household head, whereas the top 30% tend to show relatively large contribution from the wage income of spouses. Accordingly, it is found that the household head wage income has an inequality decreasing effect at the household level whereas the spouse wage income shows inequality increasing effect, where the magnitude of such effect is far smaller for the latter.