User:BrendelSignature/Income inequality in the United States
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Income inequality in the United States referes to the extent to which income, most commonly measured by household or individual, is distributed in an uneven manner. While there seems to be consensus among social scientists that some degree of income inequality is needed, the extent of income inequality and its implications on society continue to be the subject of great debate, as they have been for over a century.[2] Many social scientists such as sociologist Dennis Gilbert, and economists Michael Zweig[3] and Alan Greenspan beleive that income inequality currently poses a problem for American society with Greenspan stating it to be a "very disturbing trend."[4][5] Meanwhile, other, mostly conservative, social scientists argue that income inequality with contemporary trends persisting is not a cause for concern and that current measures used to determine income inequality are not precise enough to produce accurate readings.[6] Data from the United States Department of Commerce and Internal Revenue Service indicate that income inequality has been increasing since the 1970s,[7][8][9][10][11] whereas it had been declining during the mid 20th century.[12][13] As of 2006, the United States had one of the highest levels of income inequality, as measured through the gini index, among high income countries, comparable to that of Russia or Turkey.[14]
“ | As I've often said... this [increasing income inequality] is not the type of thing which a democratic society—a capitalist democratic society—can really accept without addressing. - Alan Greenspan, June 2005 | ” |
Despite a decrease in inequality during the 1940s, 50s and 60s, inequality has been been increasing since.[12] While income increased among all demographics,[15] the upper-most earners saw substantially larger increases.[16] According to economist Janet Yellen "the growth [in real income] was heavily concentrated at the very tip of the top, that is, the top 1 percent."[17] A 2006 anaylsis of IRS income data by economists Emmanuel Saez at the University of California, Berkeley and Thomas Piketty at the Paris School of Economics showed that the share of income held by the top 1% was as large in 2005 as in 1928. The data revealed that reported income increased by 9% in 2005, with the mean for the top 1% increasing by 14% and that for the bottom 90% dropping slightly by 0.6%.[10] Between 1967 and 2003 the percentage growth in household income for the 95th percentile was 54.63% larger than that experienced by households in the 20th percentile.[18] percentile was In addition to the top earners receiving a great share of earnings than the rest of society, the emergence of a two-tier labor market has led to larger income differences along the lines of educational attainment.[19] In addition to expertise, productiveness, work experience, inheritance, gender, race had a strong influence on personal income[20][21] while household income was largely effected by the number of income earens.[12] Yet, other causes for income inequality, especially some of those behind its recent rise, remain unknown.[17] While income rose among for all demographics and gender as well as race gaps were closing,[22][1] inquality has increased with those at the very top of the economic strata have been receiving an increasing share.[17]