The article focuses on the development of income distribution in the Nordic countries, particularly during the 1980's and 1990's, and aims to describe income distribution trends. The article uses national data sets, which are not exactly comparable between the countries, but the trends can, within the limits specified in the relevant context, be adequately compared. The second task is to analyse the causes of the changes, if any. Here the article focuses particularly on the impact of unemployment and on social and tax policies. The method is to survey the relevant literature, filling some holes in our knowledge by reporting new results. All evidence points in the direction of decreased inequality up to the beginning of the 1980's. Thereafter trends differ. In Norway and Sweden there are clear signs of increases in income inequality while changes in Finland appear rather modest. Some signs of increased inequalities have been visible during the latest years, when Finland has been recovering from the deep recession. The development in Denmark after the 1980's is left open, since available evidence is somewhat conflicting.