A study of the main long-run standard of living inequality indicators shows up some notable variations: after a considerable decline during the 1970s and 1980s, then a period of stability in the 1990s, inequalities increased during the 2000s. Variations were small, however. Because they affected standard of living, people's socio-demographic characteristics (age, qualifications, work status, etc.) affected the level of inequality. Changes that occurred in population distribution according to these characteristics between 1996 and 2013 led to an increase in inequalities, but this structural effect was partly offset by the decrease in the effect of each of these characteristics on inequality.