By Katie Simmons, Research Associate, Pew Research Global Attitudes Project

Special to CNN

Income inequality has been growing at an increasingly rapid pace. And publics around the world – and especially in Europe – are taking note.

Inequality in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries increased more over the first three years of the global downturn than in the previous 12 years combined, according to a recent report by the group. And large majorities believe that their particular nation’s economic system favors the wealthy, according to a new 39-country survey by the Pew Research Center, with many in major eurozone countries expressing alarm over these trends.

The poll – which spanned the Americas, Europe, Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa – found that clear majorities in 31 of the 39 nations surveyed said the wealth gap in their country has gotten worse over the past five years.

Read more at CNN’s Global Public Square blog