20 Facts About US Inequality that Everyone Should Know

Wage Inequality. Over the last 30 years, wage inequality in the United States has increased substantially, with the overall level of inequality now approaching ... 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Men'swageinequality Source:EconomicPolicyInstitute.2011.“UpperTail”inequalitygrowingsteadily:Men'swageinequality,1973-2009.Washington,D.C.:EconomicPolicyInstitute.May11,2011. .     2.CEOpay RecentdecadeshaveseenaclearincreaseinthedifferencebetweenCEOcompensationandthatoftheaverageworkerinmanufacturingor“production.”CEOsin1965made24timesmorethantheaverageproductionworker,whereasin2009theymade185timesmore.ThischartshowshowthisratiobetweenthecompensationofCEOsandproductionworkerstookoffinthe1980s. U.S.CEOpayinrelationtotheaverageproductionworker'scompensation Source:EconomicPolicyInstitute.2011.Morecompensationheadingtotheverytop:RatioofaverageCEOtotaldirectcompensationtoaverageproductionworkercompensation,1965-2009.Washington,D.C.:EconomicPolicyInstitute.May16,2011..   3.Homelessness Thereare750,000Americanswhoarehomelessonanygivennight,withoneinfiveofthemconsideredchronicallyhomeless.Theranksoftheshelteredhomelessincludedisproportionatenumbersofmales,blacks,middle-agedpeople(i.e.,ages31-50),veterans,anddisabled. WhoisHomeless? Source:U.S.DepartmentofHousingandUrbanDevelopment.2007.TheAnnualHomelessAssessmentReporttoCongress.Seehttp://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/ahar.pdf.     4.EducationWagePremium Onlycollegegraduateshaveexperiencedgrowthinmedianweeklyearningssince1979(inrealterms).Highschooldropoutshave,bycontrast,seentheirrealmedianweeklyearningsdeclinebyabout22percent. Medianweeklyearningsoffull-timeworkers(workers25yearsold&older,2006dollars) Source:BureauofLaborStatistics,ChartingtheU.S.LaborMarketin2006;seehttp://www.bls.gov/cps/labor2006/home.htm.Updatedto2009bySteveHippleoftheBureauofLaborStatistics;seehttp://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/the-value-of-college-2/     5.GenderPayGaps Throughoutmuchofthe20thcentury,theaveragewomanearnedabout60%ofwhattheaveragemanearned.Startinginthelate1970s,therewasasubstantialincreaseinwomen’srelativeearnings,withwomencomingtoearnabout80%ofwhatmenearned.Thishistoricriseplateauedin2005and,sincethen,thepaygaphasremainedroughlyunchanged. Women'searningsasapercentofmen's(full-timewageandsalaryworkers,annualaverages) Source:U.S.DepartmentofLabor,BureauofLaborStatistics.2010.HighlightsofWomen’sEarningsin2009.Report1017.Seehttp://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2009.pdf.     6.OccupationalSexSegregation Womenandmentendtoworkinverydifferentoccupations.Andoverall“men’sjobs”arebetterpaidthan“women’sjobs.” Genderedoccupationsandunequalrewards Source:U.S.DepartmentofLabor,BureauofLaborStatistics.2009.HighlightsofWomen’sEarningsin2008.Report1017.Seehttp://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2008.pdf.     7. RacialGapsinEducation High-schooldropoutratesareleastamongwhitesandhighestamongHispanics,whilecollegeenrollmentratesareleastamongblacksandhighestamongwhites.Thehigh-schooldropoutratehasgrownmoresimilaramongthesethreegroups,whilethecollegeenrollmentratehasgrownmoresharplydifferent. Highschooldropoutpercentage(amongpersons16-24yearsold)andcollegeenrollmentpercentage(amonghighschoolgraduates) Source:TheDigestofEducationStatistics2008,NationalCenterforEducationStatistics.     8.RacialDiscrimination Racialdiscriminationcontinuestobeinthelabormarket.AnexperimentcarriedoutinChicagoandBostonduring2001and2002showsthatresumeswith“white-sounding”names,whethermaleorfemale,weremuchmorelikelytoresultincallbacksforinterviewsthanwerethosewith“black-sounding”names(eventhoughtheresumeswereotherwiseidentical). Interviewcall-backrateforwomenwith“white”namesand“black”names Source:Bertrand,MarianneandSendhilMullainathan.2004.“AreEmilyandGregMoreEmployablethanLakishaandJamal?”AmericanEconomicReview94(4):991-1013.     9.ChildPoverty IntheUnitedStates,21percentofallchildrenareinpoverty,apovertyratehigherthanwhatprevailsinvirtuallyallotherrichnations. RelativePovertyRatesinFortyNationsintheMid-to-Late2000s Source:OECDIncomeDistributionquestionnaire,February2011.Datareferto2008forGermany,Israel,Italy,Korea,Mexico,Netherlands,NewZealand,Norway,SwedenandtheUnitedStates;2007forCanada,DenmarkandHungary;2006forChile,Estonia,JapanandSlovenia;2005forFrance,Ireland,SwitzerlandandtheUnitedKingdom;2004forAustralia,Austria,Belgium,CzechRepublic,Finland,Greece,Iceland,Luxembourg,Poland,Portugal,theSlovakRepublic,SpainandTurkey.     10.ResidentialSegregation WeallknowthattherichintheUnitedStatestendnottoliveinthesameneighborhoodsasthepoor.Butdidyouknowthatsuchresidentialsegregationisontherise?Thegraphbelowrevealsthat,between1970and2000,therehasbeenasizableincreaseinsegregation.Weshowthisresultbymeasuring(a)howlikelyitisforhouseholdsinthetopfifthoftheincomedistributiontolivewithhouseholdsnotinthetopfifth(in1970and2000),and(b)howlikelyitisforhouseholdsinthebottomfifthoftheincomedistributiontolivewithhouseholdsnotinthebottomfifth(againin1970and2000). Class-basedsegregation Source:ClaudeS.Fischer,GretchenStockmayer,JonStiles,MichaelHout.2004.“DistinguishingtheGeographicLevelsandSocialDimensionsofU.S.MetropolitanSegregation,1960-2000.”Demography41(1):37-59.     11.HealthInsurance In2007,8.1millionchildrenunder18yearsoldwerewithouthealthinsurance.ChildreninpovertyandHispanicchildrenweremorelikelytobeuninsured. UninsuredChildrenbyPovertyStatus,Age,andRaceandHispanicOrigin(percent) Source:U.S.CensusBureau,CurrentPopulationReports.2008.Income,Poverty,andHealthInsuranceCoverageintheUnitedStates:2007.Seehttp://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf.     12.IntragenerationalIncomeMobility Intragenerationalincomemobilityreferstotherateatwhichapersonmovestoahigherorlowerincomelevelduringherorhisworkcareer.Morethanhalfofthoseindividualsinthebottomincomequintilein1994remainedthere10yearslater,andlessthan4percentreachedthetopquintile. RelativeMobilityOutoftheBottomIncomeQuintile(individualsage25to44) Source:GregoryAcsandSethZimmerman.2008.U.S.IntragenerationalEconomicMobilityFrom1984to2004.TheUrbanInstitute.Seehttp://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001226_intragenerational_economic_mobi....     13.BadJobs “Badjobs”aretypicallyconsideredthosethatpaylowwagesanddonotincludeaccesstohealthinsuranceandpensionbenefits.Asshownhere,about10%offull-timeworkersareinlow-wagejobs,about30%don'thavehealthinsurance,andabout40%don'thavepensions.Thegraphalsoshowsthatthelikelihoodofbeinginabadjobismuchworseforpart-timeworkers,foron-callanddaylaborers,andforthoseworkingfortemporaryhelpagencies. Employmentrelationsandjobcharacteristics Source:ArneL.Kalleberg,BarbaraF.Reskin,KenHudson.2000.“BadJobsinAmerica:StandardandNonstandardEmploymentRelationsandJobQualityintheUnitedStates.”AmericanSociologicalReview65(2):256-278.     14.DiscouragedWorkers Discouragedworkersarepersonsnotcurrentlylookingforworkbecausetheybelievethattherearenojobsavailableforthem.ThenumberofdiscouragedworkersintheU.S.increasedsharplyduringthecurrentrecession,risingto717,000inthefirstquarterof2009,a70-percentincreasefromthefirstquarterof2008.Relativetotheirshareofthelaborforce,youngpeople,blacks,and,toalesserextent,Hispanicsandmenwereover-representedamongdiscouragedworkers. Unemployedandmarginallyattachedworkersinfirstquarterof2009(asshareofthecivilianpopulation) Source:U.S.DepartmentofLabor,BureauofLaborStatistics.2009.RanksofDiscouragedWorkersandOthersMarginallyAttachedtotheLaborForceRiseDuringRecession.Seehttp://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils74.pdf.     15.WealthInequality TheownershipofwealthamonghouseholdsintheU.S.becamesomewhatmoreconcentratedsincethe1980s.Thetop10%ofhouseholdscontrolled68.2percentofthetotalwealthin1983and73.1%ofthetotalwealthin2007. ConcentrationofwealthintheU.S.between1983and2007 Source:Source:EdwardN.Wolff,2010.“RecentTrendsinHouseholdWealthintheUnitedStates:RisingDebtandtheMiddle-ClassSqueeze–AnUpdateto2007.”LevyEconomicsInstituteWorkingPaperNo.589.Annandale-on-Hudson,NY:LevyEconomicsInstitute.   16.IntergenerationalIncomeMobility Intergenerationalincomemobilitycanbemeasuredbycalculatingtherateatwhichindividualsmovetoincomequintilesthataredifferentthatthatoftheirfamiliesoforigin.Theproportionofsonswhoremainedinthebottomquartiledeclinedbetween1961and1972andstayedthesameafterward. FamilyBackgroundandIncomeinAdulthood(individualsage30to59) Source:Harding,David,ChristopherJencks,LeonardM.Lopoo,andSusanE.Mayer.2008.“FamilyBackgroundandIncomesinAdulthood.”Pp.505-515inSocialStratification:Class,RaceandGenderinSociologicalPerspective,editedbyDavidB.Grusky.Boulder,CO:WestviewPress.     17.DeregulationoftheLaborMarket Thepercentageofallwageandsalaryworkerswhoareunionmembershasdeclinedfrom24%in1973to12.4%in2008.Thedeclineintheprivatesectorwassteeperthanthedeclineinthepublicsector.Atthesametimeasunionmembershipdeclined,therealvalueoftheminimumwagealsofellby25%inthe1980s,leadingtoaweakeninginfluenceoftheminimumwageonthelow-wagelabormarket.Thesetwodevelopmentsincombinationmaybeunderstoodasthefoundationofthenewly“deregulated”U.S.labormarket. Private-sectorunionmembershipandrealminimumwage,1973-2008 Source:BarryT.HirschandDavidA.Macpherson.UnionMembershipandCoverageDatabasefromtheCPS.Seehttp://www.unionstats.com;http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/labor_force_employment_earni...     18.JobLosses Employmentfellby3.1millionjobsduring2008,andbyanother4.7millionjobsin2009.Thejoblossesinthe2007-09recessionaremoreseverethaninallpriorrecessions. Joblossesinrecentrecessions,changesintotalemploymentfrombeginningofrecession Source:ChristopherJ.GoodmanandStevenM.Mance.2011.EmploymentLossandthe2007-09Recession:AnOverview.MonthlyLaborReview.See:http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2011/04/art1full.pdf     19.ImmigrantsandInequality DoesimmigrationtotheU.S.bringhighly-skilledworkersintothelaborforceorunskilledworkers?Theanswerisboth!Theeducationdistributionbelowindicatesthatimmigrantsareconcentratedinbothtailsoftheskilldistribution. Characteristicsofimmigranteducationenrollmentin2000 Source:DavidCard.2009.ImmigrationandInequality.Centerforresearchandanalysisofimmigration.Seehttp://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/14325/1/14325.pdf     20.Incarceration TheincarcerationrateintheUnitedStateshasgrownsodramaticallysincethe1970sthattheU.S.nowhasoneofthehighestratesintheworld.TheriseinincarcerationhasbeenespeciallyprominentamongyoungBlackmalesandhighschooldropouts.Asshowninthisgraph,afull37%ofthosewhoarebothyoungblackmalesandhighschooldropoutsarenowinprisonorjail,aratethat'smorethanthreetimeshigherthanwhatprevailedin1980. Percentof20-34yearoldmeninprisonorjail,byrace,ethnicity,andeducationalattainment,1980and2008 Source:Western,Bruce&BeckyPettit(2010).IncarcerationandSocialInequality.Daedalus,139(3),8-19