Summary: This work analyses the evolution of the wage distribution in Uruguay by generation. Using repeated transversal cuts, income inequality for individuals born between 1924 and 1991 was studied and linked to relevant variables in human capital theory. Using a decomposition methodology, this evolution was separated in cohort, age and period effects. The results show that inequality, measured by the variance of the logarithm of income, is steadily increasing across generations. This growth is explained by increases in inequality in the lower and average part of the distribution and higher percentiles in the income ratio compared with the lowest. The evolution of average years of education, their dispersion and returns to education make it possible to explain the pattern of inequality across generations as a whole.