3 ms·
This article and your comment are both great examples of how easy it is to tell the story you want to hear with data. Your point about households vs individual
by dvanduzer 13y ago
This article and your comment are both great examples of how easy it is to tell the story you want to hear with data.
Your point about households vs individuals is clever, because it ignores how the distribution of individual income growth across any other demographic factors.
- refurb 13y agoI'm not sure I understand your comment. Of course income is distributed differently across different demographics. My point is just that you need to be care drawing conclusions from the data presented. Unless you control for other variables, you may draw erroneous conclusions.
- dvanduzer 13y agoThe demographic analysis I'm referring to is income growth over time by income level.
- refurb 13y agoHave you seen the income growth data by age group? Again, if you treat all income earners equally, the data looks terrible. This is because your age has a huge impact on your income. Most people see large income increases once they are past their late 30s/early 40s. One big demographic shift to keep an eye on is the retirement of the baby boomers. Right now, they are in the highest income earning period of their lives. As soon as they retire, their income drops substantially and they are replaced by fewer and fewer individuals from lower age brackets. I would imagine that overall per capita income will continue on a downward trend until after all the baby boomers retire, even though on an individual level, people are seeing increases in income level.
- rhizome 13y agoMost people see large income increases once they are past their late 30s/early 40s I think dvanduzer's point is that this may not necessarily be so when looking at low-wage earners.