But, unlike in the case of social expenditures, the shares of the total that are typically accounted for in redistribution studies, have gone up as well (from just under 35.5% of total revenues in 1985 to just over 36% in 2005). Some direct taxes are much more progressive than others. It is therefore important to distinguish the trends for personal income tax (PIT) which generally employ progressive tax schedules from social contributions which can be regressive, consuming a bigger part of the incomes of low-to-middle income earners than of higher-income groups. The 20-year period up to 2005 has seen its share fall somewhat, but since total government revenues have gone up, PIT revenues as a percentage of GDP have remained constant on average across countries (at 8.7%). In contrast, the share of the less progressive, and possibly regressive, social security contributions (SSC) has increased by more than 2 percentage points, from 8.1% of GDP in 1985 to 10.6% in 2005.9 Overall, these revenue trends do not point clearly at either more or less redistribution through direct taxes in most countries.