Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 1 ECON Designed by Amy McGuire, B-books, Ltd. 18 CHAPTER Income Distribution and Poverty Micro McEachern
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 2 LO 1 Income Distribution by Quintiles Distribution of Income U.S. households Ranked by income Five groups of equal size (quintiles) Percentage of income received in 1970 Poorest 20% of population 4.1% of income Richest 20% of population 43.3% of income
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 3 Exhibit 1 LO 1 Share of Aggregate Household Income by Quintile: 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2005
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 4 LO 1 Income Distribution by Quintiles Richest 20% of population Increased share of income Two-earner households Poorest 20% of population Decreased share of income Single-parent household
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 5 LO 1 The Lorenz Curve Lorenz curve Percentage of total income Received by any given % of households When incomes are arrayed from smallest to largest Equal distribution line
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 6 Exhibit 2 LO 1 Lorenz Curves Show That Income Was Less Evenly Distributed Across U.S. Households in 2005 than in 1970 Lorenz curve: convenient way of showing the % of total income received by any given % of households when households are arrayed from smallest to largest. Point a: in 1970, the bottom 80% of households received 56.7% of all income. Point b: in 2005, the share of all income going to the bottom 80% of households was lower than in If income were evenly distributed across households, the Lorenz curve would be a straight line.
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 7 LO 1 Why Incomes Differ Number of household members working Education, ability, job experience Productivity High-Income household Well-educated couple; both spouses employed Low-income household One person living alone Single-parent, female Poorly educated
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 8 LO 1 A College Education Pays More Median wage, past 20 years Only high-school diploma: decreased 6% Industry deregulation; declining unionization Information technology College degree: increased 12% Information technology Higher rewards for education
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 9 LO 1 Case Study Marital Sorting and Income Inequality Marry by education levels Women 54% of people enrolled in college, graduate school, or professional school High paying jobs Professional careers Choose marriage partner based on income
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 10 LO 1 Problems with Distribution Benchmarks No objective standard Money income Measured after cash transfers Before taxes and in-kind transfers Household size differs across quintiles Reported income Distributed of spending More evenly distributed than income quintiles
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 11 Redistribution Programs LO 2 Official poverty level Family of four: $19,971 in 2005 $13.70 per person per day Pretax money income Includes cash transfers Excludes value of noncash transfers Food stamps; Medicaid; Subsidized housing Employer-provided health insurance Recessions: Increase in poverty International poverty line: $1 per person per day
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 12 Exhibit 3 LO 2 Number and Percentage of U.S. Population in Poverty:
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 13 Programs to Help the Poor LO 2 Promote a healthy economy Greater job opportunities Lower unemployment rate Antipoverty programs Social insurance Income Assistance
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 14 Exhibit 4 LO 2 U.S. Poverty Rates and Unemployment Rates
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 15 Social Insurance LO 2 1.Social Security 2.Medicare 3.Unemployment insurance 4.Workers’ compensation Deducted from workers’ pay Aimed at people with work history Income redistribution From rich to poor From young to old
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 16 Income Assistance LO 2 Welfare programs Means-tested program 1.Cash transfers programs Temporary assistance for needy families Supplemental security income General assistance aid Earned-income tax credit
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 17 Income Assistance LO 2 2.In-kind transfer programs Medicaid Food stamps Housing assistance Support for day care, school lunches Energy assistance Education and training
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 18 Exhibit 5 LO 2 Federal Redistribution Outlays Each Year by Category:
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 19 Who Are the Poor? LO 3 Poverty among the elderly declined Growth in spending for Social Security and Medicare The elderly Powerful political force Feminization of poverty Status of the household head Teen pregnancy
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 20 Exhibit 6 LO 3 U.S. Poverty Rates by Age:
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 21 Exhibit 7 LO 3 Poverty Rates Are Much Higher for Families Headed by Females But Have Declined in the Last Decade
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 22 Exhibit 8 LO 3 Percent of Population Living in Poverty by State
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 23 Who Are the Poor? LO 3 Discrimination School funding Housing Employment Training Career advancement Wage gap Quality of schooling
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 24 Who Are the Poor? LO 3 Affirmative Action Numerical hiring Promotion and training goals Higher black employment Smaller wage gap
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 25 Who Are the Poor? LO 3 Unintended consequences of income assistance High marginal tax rate Welfare benefits > income from work Long term dependency on welfare
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 26 Welfare Reform LO 4 Welfare-to-work programs 1997: Temporary assistance for needy families States: more control Time limits Work participation rates Benefit levels
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 27 LO 4 Case Study Welfare-to-Work Is Working? Welfare recipients Declined 71: below the peak Increased employment among mothers Higher income Increased welfare spending per recipient Earned-income tax credit Higher price of going on welfare
Chapter 18Copyright ©2009 by South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved 28 Exhibit 9 LO 4 Welfare Recipients as a Percentage of the U.S. Population Declined Sharply After 1994