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Race & Gender Differences in the Experience of Earnings Inequality in the US from 1995 to 2010

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  • Markus P. A. Schneider

    (Economics Department, University of Denver)

Abstract

This paper studies the evolution of the earnings distribution from 1995 to 2010 of four major de- mographic groups are considered separately, which shows that there are important differences in the experience of inequality that imply that race and gender are not separable when it comes to understand- ing the distribution of earnings in the US. The main findings are that only white men have experienced changes in within-group inequality that parallel the changes in inequality seen in the overall distribution. By contrast, the black population (male and female) has seen no notable increase in within-group in- equality. The evolution of earnings inequality is also compared to the increase in inequality documented by Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, and it is shown that earnings inequality has followed a qualita- tively similar, though less extreme trend to total pre-tax income inequality. In the process, the apparent disconnect between the Gini coefficient - which has not changes much - and inequality assessed via the share of income going to the top percent of income earners is clarified.

Suggested Citation

  • Markus P. A. Schneider, 2013. "Race & Gender Differences in the Experience of Earnings Inequality in the US from 1995 to 2010," Working Papers 1303, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:new:wpaper:1303
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    File URL: http://www.economicpolicyresearch.org/econ/2013/NSSR_WP_032013.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dagum Distribution; Earnings Inequality; Gini Coefficient; Income Distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • C46 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Specific Distributions

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