Group items tagged

"Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population. In the United States, income inequality, or the gap between the rich and everyone else, has been growing markedly, by every major statistical measure, for some 30 years." This article talks about the gap between the rich and the poor. It says that the wealthiest people had a national income of 23.5% in 2007, and the Great Recession followed. This is similar to the Great Depression. This shows that income inequality can impact the whole country and should be considered a big problem.

"Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population. In the United States, income inequality, or the gap between the rich and everyone else, has been growing markedly, by every major statistical measure, for some 30 years." This article gives an in-depth description of the issue of income inequality, comparing different income-related statistics to those of earlier decades. It also informs of how this issue is progressively becoming less of a problem, but still needs to be addressed.

Stats on income inequality.

This article talks about the wealth gap in America between middle and upper income families. Something really important that is stated in this article is that America's upper -income families have a median net worth that is nearly 70 times that of the country's lower-income families, which is the widest wealth gap between these families in 30 years. The wealth gap between upper and middle income families has increased, the wealth ratio being 6.6. 

"The wealth gap between America's high income group and everyone else has reached record high levels since the economic recovery from the Great Recession of 2007-09, with a clear trajectory of increasing wealth for the upper-income families and no wealth growth for the middle- and lower-income families." This article explains how the wealth gap between middle income and upper income families is widest in years. The article talks about median upper income and median middle income families as of 2013. The numbers are staggering ($639,400 to $96,500)

"The wealth gap between America's high income group and everyone else has reached record high levels since the economic recovery from the Great Recession of 2007-09, with a clear trajectory of increasing wealth for the upper-income families and no wealth growth for the middle- and lower-income families." This shows the radical difference in the economy. The rerason for this might be that the upper classes have more money to make investments in stocks, companies, etc. This eventually ends with more money being given to the spender.

"Here's the story of income inequality in America over the past 40 years." Shows in numbers how income inequality is an actual thing, and is out there. Very good solid background information and has numbers that can be used to reference.

"Among households headed by high school dropouts, incomes grew roughly in lockstep - and were basically stagnant at all levels. Among households headed by high school graduates, and in those headed by college graduates, those in the middle actually saw their wages fall. The only group that saw significant gains was households headed by high-earning college grads. Labor economists call this "the hollowing out of the middle." Globalization and technological change have made middle-skill, middle-income jobs harder to find. Low-skill, low-paying jobs have stuck around. And there are high-paying jobs for those at the top with the skills to put technology to profitable use." This article talks about how higher-income families gradually get more, and middle- and lower-income families gradually get less. It also discusses how, in the past 40 years, the problem is getting worse and worse.

"Among households headed by high school dropouts, incomes grew roughly in lockstep - and were basically stagnant at all levels. Among households headed by high school graduates, and in those headed by college graduates, those in the middle actually saw their wages fall. The only group that saw significant gains was households headed by high-earning college grads. Labor economists call this "the hollowing out of the middle." Globalization and technological change have made middle-skill, middle-income jobs harder to find. Low-skill, low-paying jobs have stuck around. And there are high-paying jobs for those at the top with the skills to put technology to profitable use." This article talks about how higher-income families gradually get more, and middle- and lower-income families gradually get less. It also discusses how, in the past 40 years, the problem is getting worse and worse.

"The stark contrast in household earnings illuminates a disturbing fact: Richmond has one the highest levels of income inequality in the United States, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau." According to this article, Richmond has one of the highest levels of income inequality with bottom quintile of the city's households making averagely $7,000, and the top quintile averagely making $170,000. One in four of Richmond residents lives on or below the poverty line, and there are many theories for the growth of income inequality. Among these are elimination of jobs due to technological advances and discrimination against minorities and women. 

"Windsor Farms is a historic neighborhood in Richmond's West End just north of the James River. Its streets are lined with colonial-style homes meant to mimic an English village. Seven and a half miles away is the Gilpin neighborhood in Richmond's Northside, next to Interstates 64 and 95. Its streets are lined with one of the largest public housing projects on the East Coast, Gilpin Court.  Windsor Farms Gilpin Court Though it's just a 15-minute drive between Windsor Farms and Gilpin, the two neighborhoods are worlds apart in terms of socioeconomics. The average annual household income for residents in Windsor Farms is about $185,000; in Gilpin, the figure is less than $10,000."

"Middle-class and low-income individuals who make up most of the population in our state aren't earning enough to buy the goods and services that the economy is capable of producing. The result is a shrinking middle class. Middle-class families, defined as households earning 50 percent below and above the median income, are earning less than middle-class families did in 1989. The decline in high-paying jobs is pushing more families into the lower class, thus widening the gap between rich and poor." This article explores the level of income inequality present in Richmond, the city with the highest income inequality in Virginia and one of the highest in the United States. One in four individuals live on or below the poverty line. Segregation, racism associated with banking, and highway construction limited the poverty level to specific areas of the city. There is no transportation provided beyond city lines, forcing the average-middle class to take the incentive to live in the country as opposed to the city. This forces the lower class to live within the city. The article discusses how stable well-paying jobs have disappeared and not been replaced, causing the American middle class to shrink. The lack of high paying jobs is currently pushing more families into the lower class, widening the gap between rich and poor.

"The 1940s to the late 1970s, while by no means a golden age (as evidenced, for example, by the perpetuation of gender, ethnic, and racial discrimination in the job market), was a period in which workers from the lowest-paid wage earner to the highest-paid CEO experienced similar growth in incomes. This was a period in which "a rising tide" really did lift all boats. This underscores that there is nothing inevitable about top incomes growing faster than other incomes, as has occurred since the late 1970s. The unequal income growth since the late 1970s has brought the top 1 percent income share in the United States to near its 1928 peak." This article explains the ever increasing income inequality in modern day society. It verbally and non-verbally describes how the income of the top 1% of America is rapidly occupying a greater percentage of the income of all the populaces of the United States of America and that the income share of top one percent is nearing the peak it reached in 1928.

This article talks about the income gap between some of the lower income students and the children from higher income places. It goes with question #2 and also talks about some different states' efforts to fix the gap.

"America faces an opportunity gap. Those born in the bottom ranks have difficulty moving up. Although the United States has long thought of itself as a meritocracy, a place where anyone who gets an education and works hard can make it, the facts tell a somewhat different story."

It is more difficult for lower-income children to be successful because they are unlikely to get a high level education.  But those born into high income have a better chance of becoming middle class or higher because they are more likely to get a high level education or a degree.

"Family income also affects success on campus. Graduation rates for high-income students climbed to 54 percent for those born in 1979-1982, from 36 percent for those born in 1961-1964. By contrast, graduation rates for low-income students had improved by just 4 percentage points, to 9 percent, based on a December 2011 paper by University of Michigan economists Martha Bailey and Susan Dynarski." This article helps shed light on the growing problem of opportunity gap, by education and extracurricular activities, to the general public. This article can help someone by giving them factual evidence for the opportunity gap through studies and data collected.

"Among them: Wealthy parents are spending more lavishly on childcare, education and accessories such as toys, while families in the middle are spending roughly the same or less after inflation. And extracurricular activities such as after- school clubs have increasingly become the province of privileged kids." It helps to explain what the education opportunity gap is. It explains what happens to people on the bad half of the gap. It talks about advantages and disadvantages.

"A student at one of America's most selective colleges is 14 times more likely to be from a high-income family than from a low-income one, based on a 2010 study by Carnevale and fellow Georgetown University economist Jeff Strohl. Those schools usually admit less than one-third of applicants." This article summarizes the unfortunate opportunity gap in the USA. It expounds on how statistics show that kids from the upper-class almost have it in their DNA to get their degree, while those in the middle-class and lower class are seeing it as an aspiration. The resources and educational tools being brought about by wealth are increasing the gap between the rich and the American middle-class and lower-class

"WASHINGTON - President Obama will propose a 10-year budget Monday that stabilizes the federal deficit but does not seek balance, instead focusing on policies to address income inequality as he adds nearly $6 trillion to the debt. The budget - $4 trillion in fiscal 2016 - would hit corporations that park profits overseas, raise taxes on the richest of the rich, and increase the incomes of the middle class through new spending and tax credits. Obama will challenge the Republican Congress to answer his emphasis on wage stagnation, according to congressional aides briefed on the details. The central question that Obama's budget will pose to Congress is this: Should Washington worry about what may be the defining economic issue of the era - the rising gap between the rich and everyone else - or should policy makers primarily seek to address a mountain of debt that the White House hopes to control but only marginally reduce as a share of the economy? The proposed budget includes an ambitious $478 billion public works program for highway, bridge, and transit upgrades, which would be partly paid for with a one-time tax on overseas corporate profits." This article explains the way President Obama plans to close the income gap, and how he plans to do it. In short, Obama plans to raise taxes on the rich, and increase incomes for the middle class, making the income gap decrease. Hopefully, doing this will result in a lesser income gap between the rich and the poor, and make the democracy run more smoothly.

"The SCF data show that the top 3 percent of the income distribution received roughly a third of all income in 2013, while the top 3 percent of the wealth distribution held 54 percent of all wealth. [32]  Similarly, the top 10 percent of the income distribution received a little less than half of all income, while the top 10 percent of the wealth distribution held three-quarters of all wealth." This describes the difference between wealth and income. The concentration inequality is shown in multiple diagrams. Wealth has a result of inheritance and savings, while income is what is currently earned. There is a great gap in the distribution of wealth and income.

"Income inequality in the United States has increased significantly since the 1970s after several decades of stability, meaning the share of the nation's income received by higher income households has increased. This trend is evident with income measured both before taxes (market income) as well as after taxes and transfer payments. Income inequality has fluctuated considerably since measurements began around 1915, moving in an arc between peaks in the 1920s and 2000s, with a 30-year period of relatively lower inequality between 1950-1980." This article outlines what income inequality is, and how it is impacting America.

"America needs a vibrant and prosperous middle class to drive economic growth. Unfortunately, with the increasing economic inequality of the past several decades, the United States has become less of a middle-class nation, and those in the middle have found themselves increasingly financially squeezed and struggling to get by. It is time that policymakers take action to reverse these trends by working to boost middle-class incomes and to ensure that the essentials of a middle-class lifestyle remain affordable. " This article shows how income inequality has become an increasing issue in the U.S. over the years. It depicts how as the issue has been increasing, America's middle class has actually been shrinking. It shows the struggles of the middle class against the issue through statistical data as well.

America's middle class has begun to shrink in the last 20 years due to the rich becoming even richer and the poor becoming even poorer. As income inequality has grown in the US, the size of the middle class has shrunk astronomically. For example, in 1979, the middle class was 57% of the US, but now, it is only 42%. This leads to a greater separation between the rich and poor

"America's middle class is struggling. As recent economic data show, middle-class household incomes remain stagnant at a near-25-year low, and the share of the nation's economic gains going to the middle class has fallen to near-record lows. Meanwhile, the costs of middle-class essentials-such as child care, higher education, health care, and housing-have rapidly increased. Beyond these well-documented facts, however, another long-term trend affecting the middle class has received somewhat less attention: As income inequality has steadily grown in the United States, the actual size of America's middle class has shrunk." This article explains various effects of income inequality on middle class citizens. It discusses the decrease in middle class households over time. Due to income inequality, less than 50% of American households can actually be considered "middle class".

"Yet despite the broad disparity in the relative concentration of the ultra-rich, every single state showed a pronounced and growing chasm between the wealthy few and the great majority of society. In Alaska, which has relatively high wages and few billionaires, the incomes of the top one percent were on average more than fifteen times higher than the bottom 99 percent." Throughout the article, there were many statistical maps and values that compared the income between the top 1% and lower 99% in each state, which provided evidence that the economy gap has increased over the years. It explained possible reasons for the increase as well as the wide income differences among the states.

"Income inequality has grown in every state in the US in recent decades, according to a new study published this week by the Economic Policy Institute. The report, entitled The Increasingly Unequal States of America, found that, even though states home to major metropolitan financial centers such as New York, Chicago, and the Bay Area had the highest levels of income inequality, the gap between the rich and the poor has increased in every region of the country." This article talks about the growth of income equality and almost every single state. It talks about the average income and the gap between the rich and poor in numerical terms as well. The article also goes into specifics and looks at the average income in different states.

"There is no dispute that income inequality has been on the rise in the United States for the past four decades. The share of total income earned by the top 1 percent of families was less than 10 percent in the late 1970s but now exceeds 20 percent as of the end of 2012. A large portion of this increase is due to an upsurge in the labor incomes earned by senior company executives and successful entrepreneurs." This article helps to understand how and why income inequality is a problem and how its growing the the US.

This unique article discusses the gap in income as compared to classes of other countries.

The income level has created a gap between classes that is as big as it was during the Great Depression.

"Some economists have long argued that a widening income gap suppresses economic growth and job creation, and may be one reason this economic recovery doesn't feel like a recovery at all." This article represents my viepoint on the issue of income inequality. Although there are a few benefits to different incomes, the cons outweigh the pros. People of the middle and lower classes have been discovered to spend more of their income then the wealthy. This causes an overall decrease in the economic growth of the country. This is just one of the many bad effects income inequality has on America. Other effects include the greater lifespan of rich people compared to poor people, and the difference in the quality of education that children receive.

""The 400 richest people in the United States have more wealth than the bottom 150 million put together," said Berkeley Professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich on a recent CNNMoney panel on inequality." This Website really makes you think about how money is distributed in America today, but you also still have to think didn't these rich people earn their money? I mean don't you think it would be unfair to take their money away and give it to other people if they earned it a worked hard for it?

""The 400 richest people in the United States have more wealth than the bottom 150 million put together," said Berkeley Professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich on a recent CNNMoney panel on inequality. Meanwhile, the median wage earner in America took home 9% less last year than in 1999. But the rising income gap is manifesting itself in American society in other ways too. Social scientists have long said income inequality is bad for society. Yet popular measures of social stability -- crime rates, voter non-participation -- have been going down over the last couple of decades." The article talks about how income inequality is very bad for america and that it needs to be discussed. It effects economic growth and ever peoples' lifespan.

"In targeting income inequality, Mr. Romney joins a growing group of potential 2016 candidates who have listed the issue as a top concern. " This article by the Wall Street Journal goes over what Mitt Romney, a presidential candidate, thinks about the income inequality in the United States.

Short-term economy is looking up, but inequality has worsened, according to Romney.

"Mr. Romney signaled that a potential third campaign for the White House would focus in part on lifting Americans from poverty. He said that while the economy in the short term was "looking up," income inequality had worsened." This article, published in The Wall Street Journal, addresses the affects of income inequality on the overall economy of America. It states that income inequality, is a problem that needs to be addressed. Stopping the chain of poverty in the USA, is necessary to keep the economy going up.

"Children born into low and high income families are born with similar abilities. But they have very different educational opportunities, with children in low income families less likely to have access to early childhood education, more likely to attend under-resourced schools that deliver inferior K-12 education, and less likely to attend or complete college." Income plays a great role in how different people live. People with low incomes won't have the same opportunities that people with high income do. Even though we like to think of most people being equal, the difference in how much money someone earns changes how they get their education, food, etc.

Middle-income families in other developed countries enjoyed larger increases in disposable income (leisure money) than the United States. The United States lost the title of having the "most affluent" middle class to Canada.

"We have regressed in social mobility and income equality. For the first time in our history, we are less socially mobile than Europe. And economic inequality is manifestly real, dangerous and growing. The top 10 percent of Americans now account for half of the national income, compared to one-third a number of years ago. Journalist and author David Cay Johnston has given us a vivid measure: "The average increase in real income reported by the bottom 90 percent of earners in 2011, compared with 1966, if measured at one inch, would extend almost five miles for the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent." In a June 2013 Brookings Institution/Hamilton Project study, the observation was made that "children of well-off families are disproportionately likely to stay well off, and children of poor families are very likely to remain poor." It is widely understood that the single best predictor of future financial success is educational achievement, yet educational opportunities seem to be sorely lacking for all but the families at the top of the income ladder. High-income parents invest more in their children, widening the gap between those who are rich and poor in test scores, college attendance and graduation. A 2010 study of the most selective higher education institutions by Georgetown University researchers Anthony Carnevale and Jeff Strohl concluded that "the wealthiest students out-populate the poor students by a margin of 14 to 1."" This article talks about how economic inequality is growing and how it is dangerous for the United States. It explains how the Haves will most likely stay Haves and past that down through generation after generation of their families. Being a have not includes higher education that the Have Nots can't afford, which then leads the Haves to get higher paying jobs. The Have Nots continue with lower education and lower paying jobs which will continue the spread of economic inequality.

"After incomes at all levels declined as a result of the Great Recession, income growth has been lopsided since the recovery began in 2009, with the top 1 percent capturing an alarming share of economic growth."

"While there are plentiful data examining the fortunes of the top 1 percent at the national level, this report uses the latest available data to examine how the top 1 percent in each state have fared over 1917-2012, with an emphasis on trends over 1928-2012 (data for additional percentiles spanning 1917-2012 are available at go.epi.org/topincomes1917to2012). In so doing, this analysis finds that all 50 states have experienced widening income inequality in recent decades." This article, including many data tables and types of statistical analysis, analyzes and describes the differences in history of income inequality in the US and the top 1% of incomes, and then later focuses on inequality in 2012 (the most recent year where state data is available) and the specifics of each state and the gaps between the top 1% and the average incomes of those in the bottom 99%.

"The recession seems to have cemented the country's income and wealth inequality, not reversed it. The top 10 percent earn a larger share of overall income than they have since the 1930s. The earnings of the top 1 percent took a knock during the recession, but have bounced back. In contrast, the average working family's income has continued to decline through the anemic recovery." This article discusses the overall effects and causes of income inequality in the United States and what might happen in the years to come. According to the article, the growth of our economy has become sluggish due to income inequality, it's a bigger issue than we once though it was. In this article economists discuss whether and how the gap between the rich and the poor fueled the recession and what it might mean for our future.