The Growth of Family Income Inequality among Families with Children, 1968-2014

• In Event: 231 - Section on Sociology of Population Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 07. Special Topics in U.S. Socio-Demographic Patterns and Inequalities

Abstract

The inequality of family incomes in the United States has increased in recent decades. This study compared trends in family income inequality for families with young children, school-age children, and adolescent children to that for individuals and families without children. Using data from the 1968-2014 March Supplement to the Current Population Survey, this study found that family income inequality increased more sharply for families with children, especially young children, than it did for families without children. A decomposition of the Gini coefficient by income source revealed that the increase in family income inequality among families with children was a result of (1) a dramatic increase in the inequality of earned income, (2) a declining share of income from public assistance programs and a growing share of income from investments, and (3) a weakening of the negative correlation between welfare income and income inequality and a strengthening of the positive correlation between investment income and income inequality.

Authors

• Robert L. Wagmiller, Temple University

• Jessica Houston Su, University at Buffalo, SUNY

• Kristen Schultz Lee, University at Buffalo, SUNY