Inequality and Poverty in the United States: The Aftermath of the Great Recession

Posted: 19 Jul 2021

See all articles by Timothy Smeeding

Timothy Smeeding

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Jeffrey P. Thompson

New England Public Policy Center, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

This paper explores trends in inequality and poverty using both market and after-tax and transfer income in the period during and after the Great Recession (through 2011). Using market income (or wages), inequality and poverty rose sharply between 2008 and 2010. The primary exception is measures for the top of the distribution; annual wage and income shares of the top one percent dipped in 2008 and 2009. Including taxes and transfers, broad-based inequality measures also fell, and the poverty increase was muted. Tax and transfer policies lowered inequality and poverty, but those policies were not equal across the population. Poverty declined among the elderly, changed little among children, and rose sharply among the working-age. Inequality fell across the total population, but was unchanged among working-age households. Since 2009, as the economy has grown slowly, inequality has risen for all groups, and poverty remains high for the working-age.

Suggested Citation

Smeeding, Timothy and Thompson, Jeffrey P., Inequality and Poverty in the United States: The Aftermath of the Great Recession (2013). FEDS Working Paper No. 2013-51, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3888007

Timothy Smeeding (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

No Address Available

Jeffrey P. Thompson

New England Public Policy Center, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston ( email )

600 Atlantic Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.bostonfed.org/people/bank/jeffrey-p-thompson.aspx

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