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But is it inequality from one person to another, or just unequal life stages for the same individual? You could imagine a college student from a middle-class b
by jeffdavis 11y ago
But is it inequality from one person to another, or just unequal life stages for the same individual?
You could imagine a college student from a middle-class background earning very little from 20-30, then being middle-income from 30-40, then upper-income from 40-65, then retired until 85.
Their independent life (20+) is 65 years, of which 30 are low-income, 10 middle-income, and 25 high income.
- AnimalMuppet 11y agoValid point, but I believe that you mean that 10 are low-income.
- jeffdavis 11y agoRetirees typically count as low income, so I included the retired years as low income. Another consideration is household size. Before, retirees may have been more likely to live with their children, but now they live more independently.
- lotharbot 11y agocperciva wrote a piece on this a while back: http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2011-01-10-inequality-in-equalland.html http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2011-01-10-inequality-in-equ...
- istjohn 11y agoUnequal life stages certainly contribute to inequality, but the Atlantic published an article this summer discussing research on intergenerational socioeconomic mobility: "Children born to 90th-percentile earners are typically on track to make three times more than the children of 10th-percentile earners." So socioeconomic class is definitely a big part of the equation.
- refurb 11y agoGreat point! Generally incomes and wealth increase with age. If your population is more heavily weighted in one particulat age bracket (baby boomers?), you'll see a shift in wealth distribution, even if everyone's average wealth at a give age remains the exact same.