Income Gap between Poor Families and Others: Signs of Individual Freedom or Proof of Social Inequality?
Author(s)
O’Boyle, Edward J.
Abstract
In 2001 the mean income deficit for poor families was $7,231. The mean income surplus for non-poor families was $57,841. The sum of those two estimates–$65,072–represents what the author calls the family income gap. Between 1993 and 2000–the period marking the longest expansion in United States economic history–the real family income gap grew on average by $1,143 every year. This article examines the difference in income between poor and non-poor families, 1988-2001; transitions into and out of poverty; the income gap in 2001 by race and type of family; and three remedies for closing the gap. Concluding remarks call attention to the linkage between people’s understanding of human nature and the way in which poverty is defined and measured.
