Income Distribution in the US
1967-2008 - 0910b
Graphs (key and title! Be proportional!)
1. Make a
side-by-side bar graph (the three years' bars next to each other) of the
"Household Income at Selected Percentiles" (the percentile limits)
for 1967, 1992, and 2008.
2. Make a
side-by-side bar graph of the "Mean Household Income of Quintiles"
for 1967 and 2008.
3. Make a
side-by-side bar graph of the "Shares of Household Income of
Quintiles" for 1967 and 2008.
General Questions
4. In what
year's dollars are the dollars on the chart measured?
5. What is
a quintile?
6. In what
quintile would you find the most average (median) income in America?
Questions about "Housefold Income at
Selected Percentiles"
7. Has any
percentile of the US population seen its inflation-adjusted income decline from
1967 to 2008?
8. As a
percentage, which percentile has seen its income rise the fastest over the 4
decades from 1967 to 2008? What was the
percentage income rise?
9. As a
percentage, which percentile has seen its income rise the slowest over the 4
decades from 1967 to 2008? What was the
percentage income rise?
Questions about "Mean Housefold Income of
Quintiles"
10. Which
two quintiles saw their mean incomes rise more than 40% over the past four decades?
11. During
which decade (70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s) did the bottom quintile see its most rapid
economic growth?
12. During
the 2000s, which quintile(s) did NOT see its(their)
average income decline?
Questions about "Shares of Household Income
of Quintiles"
13. What
percentage of all US income went to the top 20% of earners in 2008?
14. Which
quintile(s) saw its(their) share of household income
rise over the past 4 decades?
15. What
share of household income did the bottom 40% of familes take home in 2008?
16. What
share of household income did the 40% of the population who made up the third
and fourth quintiles take home in 2008?
17. During
what decade did the richest quintile's share of household income increase most
rapidly?
18. What
year marked the highest share of household income for each of the five
quintiles of American families? (It'll
be different for each quintile.) What
was that share?
Qs for
"Table A-3 - Selected Measures of
Household Inocme Dispersion: 1967 to 2008"
Long answer question:
Given the
data in Table A-3, at what dollar amount would you say "rich" starts
in the US? Why?
Essay question:
Given what
you know about income distribution in the United States, how are we doing? Are you happy with the numbers? Why or why not? Should we attempt to change how they break
out? Explain.
Qs for
"Table A-3 - Selected Measures of
Household Inocme Dispersion: 1967 to 2008"
Long answer question:
Given the
data in Table A-3, at what dollar amount would you say "rich" starts
in the US? Why?
Essay question:
Given what
you know about income distribution in the United States, how are we doing? Are you happy with the numbers? Why or why not? Should we attempt to change how they break
out? Explain.
Qs for
"Table A-3 - Selected Measures of
Household Inocme Dispersion: 1967 to 2008"
Long answer question:
Given the
data in Table A-3, at what dollar amount would you say "rich" starts
in the US? Why?
Essay question:
Given what
you know about income distribution in the United States, how are we doing? Are you happy with the numbers? Why or why not? Should we attempt to change how they break
out? Explain.