文档介绍：e Inequality and Poverty
Chapter 20
The Distribution of e
“A person’s earnings depend on the supply and demand for that person’s labor, which in turn depend on natural ability, human capital, compensating differentials, discrimination, and so on.”
The Measurement of Inequality
How much inequality is there in our society?
How many people live in poverty?
What problems arise in measuring the amount of inequality?
How often do people move among e classes?
The Distribution of e in the United States: 1998
. e Inequality
Imagine that you. . .
. . . lined up all of the families in the economy according to their annual e.
. . . divided the families into five equal groups (bottom fifth, second fifth, etc.)
. . . computed the share of total e that each group of families received.
e Inequality in the United States
. e Inequality
If e were equally distributed across all families, each one-fifth of families would receive one-fifth (20 percent) of total e.
From 1935-1970, the distribution of e gradually became more equal.
In more recent years, this trend has reversed itself.
. e Inequality
Reasons for Recent Increase in e Inequality
The following have tended to reduce the demand for unskilled labor and raise the demand for skilled labor:
Increases in international trade with low-wage countries
Changes in technology
Reasons for Recent Increase in e Inequality
The wages of unskilled workers have fallen relative to the wages of skilled workers.
This has resulted in increased inequality in family es.