Distribution of Household Income in the United States Jaclyn Best

What is household income? The combined gross income of all household members Measured in dollars NOT wealth Wealth aka Net Worth: Savings, real estate, retirement funds, stocks, bonds, and trust funds Measured in time Median number of income earners per household Most households are married couple families versus single male/single female families

Where do you fall on the income curve? Incomes grow faster at the top than in the middle or bottom end The rich are getting richer Income at the 50th and 51st percentiles: $42,327 vs $43,564 (a $1,237 difference) Income at the 98th and 99th percentiles: $360,435 vs $506,553 (a $146,118 difference!) Income at the 99.5th and 99.9th percentiles: $815.868 vs $2,075,574 (a $1,259,706 difference!) Source: NYT, Tax Policy Center

Another way to look at it

Household Income and Education Income increases as amount of education increases Are these differences increasing? Source: US Census, 2010

Household Income and Race Differences in personal income versus household income and race Source: US Census, 2005

Distribution by county Income is not equally distributed spatially Urban areas see higher median incomes than rural areas

Okay, so the distribution of household income in the US is clearly unequal. What are Americans doing about it?

Occupy Wall St: We are the 99% Began September 17, 2011 (8 months ago) in NYC Has spread to over 100 cities in the US and 1,500 cities globally “#ows is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall St. in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations…aims to fight back against the richest 1% of people that are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future” (occupywallst.org).

Criticisms of Occupy Leaderless movement Demands and goals are unclear Little support from mainstream media outlets Very little has been accomplished in terms of litigation and “Wall St. reform”

The Bottom Line There is significant household income inequality in the US The already huge gap between the rich and the poor/middle class is increasing Something needs to be done to stop this trend Interesting TED talk: Richard Wilkinson: How economic equality harms societies http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html