Differentiation of population incomes: prospects for reducing inequality in terms of digitalization

This research provides an analytical assessment of the level of income differentiation, outlines the range of threats associated with the problems of fair distribution, and identifies the likelihood of reducing or increasing gender inequality in wages in the context of large-scale digitalization of Ukraine and the world economy. The methodological basis of the study is based on a systematic and dialectical approach, as well as general scientific and fundamental provisions of economics. To achieve the goal of the article, general and special methods of cognition were used. In particular, comparative analysis and synthesis – in the study of trends in the share of labour in GDP, growth or decrease of real wages and productivity in Ukraine, and growth average monthly wages by economic activity. Regression analysis and rank correlation – establishing the relationship between public access to the Internet and the gender pay gap. Using regression analysis, based on statistics on the gender pay gap (Y) and the percentage of the population connected to the Internet (variable x), we hypothesized that digitization still can reduce gender inequality by identifying the dependence of Y from x. This hypothesis was also confirmed by calculating Spearman's and Kendall's rank correlation coefficients, which indicate a significant relationship between the level of penetration of the Ukrainian population into the Internet and the gender pay gap. The Pearson test was chosen as a mathematical tool to determine the probability of reducing gender inequality in wages in the future. The research results also suggest that premature deindustrialization leads to a decrease in the share of employment in production. This trend is likely to increase the defeminization of productive labour.