Geographies of Inequality Flashcards
inequality is more prevalent in
US than Canada
the US is highly
unequal
employment has shifted
From: manufacturing, construction, &other eroding middle-class jobs
To: healthcare, technology, informatics, and energy sectors -> require advanced levels of education and training
a person’s fortunes are strongly influenced by
the area or neighborhood in which they were born & raised &/or is trying to earn a living
inequality not just for income
health conditions, access to transportation, educational achievement, & even longevity
US today the number of families living in middle-income neighborhoods is
more than 1/3 lower than it was in 1970
US today residential areas housing wealthier and poorer extremes have
doubled in size since 1970
rural areas
shrinking job markets, dwindling populations, reduced services (schools), growing poverty
intraurban
within an urban area
Economic well-being of a neighborhood is clearly reflected
in housing prices
income inequality: why
- Legacy of slavery
- Historical racial segregation and gender discrimination
- Governmental policies, taxes
- Increased monopolization
- Stagnating minimum wage
- Offshoring
- Globalization and changes in technology
- Waning power of labor unions: reduced bargaining power among workers
61% Americans say
there is too much economic inequality in the country today, but views differ by political party and household income
level.
how is economic inequality measured
Gini coefficient
gini value of zero
perfect economic equality
gini value of one
perfect economic inequality
US gini coefficient
0.485
US is most
unequal high-income eco in the world
District of Columbia and the state of New York
greatest amount of income inequality (0.51)
Utah has
greatest income equality (0.43)
the highest-earning 20% of U.S. households have
steadily brought in a larger share of the country’s total income.
The wealth gap between America’s richest and poorer families
more than doubled from 1989 to 2016
top 10% own
70% US wealth
The black-white income gap
has persisted over time in the US
Middle-class incomes have grown at a
slower rate than upper tier incomes over the past 5 decades
US economic mobility is
disappearing, heavily influenced by geography
The fraction of Americans who earn more than their parents has
shrunk from more than 90% of those born in the 1940s to 50% of those born in the 1980s.
Overall eco-mobility is
lower in the US than in many other developed countries
why does inequality matter
- Hinders economic growth
- Fosters political dysfunction
- Rich households tend to spend less of their income than poorer ones.
- Wealthier can exert an outsize influence on government (further entrenching their power).
addressing inequality
- supporting unionization
- raising the minimum wage
- more progressive tax code
- increase access to education: early education & college
- stronger social safety net
During the post WWII era, the distribution of income in the US
was relatively stable & egalitarian.
Trade union decline, occurring w/in the context of deindustrialization and the offshoring of routine-manufacturing jobs
creates larger distributional effects than these factors would in isolation
Employment opportunities for less-skilled Americans have shifted
away from unionized jobs in the industrial sector (high-wage, secure employment) toward non-unionized jobs in the service sector (low-wage, insecure employment).
Importantly, this economic transformation not only
reduces the prevalence of good unionized jobs, but weakens the bargaining power of trade unions more generally
The combined effect drives
income inequality substantially upward
