You see that same issue when people complain that X% of the population doesn't pay income taxes: it's true, as far as it goes, but it ignores that people nowada

You see that same issue when people complain that X% of the population doesn't pay income taxes: it's true, as far as it goes, but it ignores that people nowadays have extended periods of studenthood, sabbaticals, and partial retirement (among other things). The daughter of two professors working on a PhD in mathematics is not of a lower class than a high school educated waitress, despite making a similar amount. I dug up this paper, which seems like it might address it. Going to dig into it sometime after work: http://economics.sas.upenn.edu/~manovski/papers/accounting_for_profiles.pdf http://economics.sas.upenn.edu/~manovski/papers/accounting_f...