Inequality
Inequality refers to the differences in income and wealth between all groups in society–between rich and poor and other people in between. High levels of inequality can signal real differences in social and economic opportunity and lead to perceived unfairness, distrust of government and other key institutions, and political unrest.
The importance of inequality relative to average economic well-being is sometimes debated. Some argue that a degree of inequality is a natural outgrowth of differences in individual abilities, motivations, and decisions. Others argue that the outcome is less important than the opportunity to get out of difficult economic circumstances, called economic mobility. Still, inequality is a concern across the political spectrum.
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PovertyNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend25%Specific Measure:
The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which includes income from government programs.
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Income inequalityNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend22%Specific Measure:
Income “Gini” coefficient (net of government taxes and transfer programs). This is an index that ranges from 0-100 where higher numbers indicate more inequality.
Measures in green indicate an improving national trend or that we are outperforming at least 80% of countries.
Measures in red indicate a declining national trend or that we are outperforming less than 50% of countries.
Measures in yellow indicate stable trends or that we are outperforming 50-79% of countries.
Summary of Results
More than three-quarters of higher-income countries have lower income inequality than the US. Our income inequality is also worsening overall and relative to other countries. This can be mainly attributed to quite large increases in income among the most well off. We can see this partly by comparing income inequality to our second measure: poverty. The poverty rate has been declining, mostly because of government programs that reduce taxation for low income people and provide them with government support. The result is that fewer people have incomes so low that they cannot provide for their basic needs. But the increase in income among the rich has been larger, which explains rising income inequality.