Table Of Contents:
Acknowledgments xi
Executive Summary 3(10)
Introduction: What kind of recovery? 13(16)
Documentation and Methodology 29(4)

Family Income: full employment reverses historic stagnation 33(80)

Median income: slow recovery, then strong gains 35(5)

Latter 1990s pay off for less-advantaged family types 40(3)

An income `generation gap' 43(5)

Strong growth among dual-earner couples and single mothers 48(3)

Growing inequality of family income 51(5)

Counterarguments to the evidence on income trends 56(27)

Are taxes the reason for rising inequality and disappointing growth in family incomes? 58(10)

Is the increase in inequality sensitive to income definitions? 68(7)

The role of mobility and demographics 75(8)

Growth in inequality narrows pathways to prosperity 83(3)

Expanding capital incomes 86(8)

The impact of low unemployment on family income growth 94(3)

The `time crunch': married-couple families with children working harder than ever 97(16)

Wages: broad-based gains in late 1990s 113(104)

Contrasting hours and hourly wage growth 116(3)

Contrasting compensation and wage growth 119(2)

Wages by occupation 121(6)

Wage trends by wage level 127(6)

Shifts in low-wage jobs 133(8)

Trends in benefit growth and inequality 141(7)

Explaining wage inequality 148(8)

Productivity and the compensation/productivity gap 156(2)

Rising education/wage differentials 158(5)

Young workers' wages 163(2)

The importance of within-group wage inequality 165(5)

Wage growth by race and ethnicity 170(1)

The gender wage gap 171(1)

Unemployment and wage growth 172(4)

The shift to low-paying industries 176(5)

Trade and wages 181(8)

The union dimension 189(7)

An eroded minimum wage 196(7)

The technology story of wage inequality 203(10)

Executive pay soars 213(4)

Jobs: recession leads to employment losses 217(60)

Unemployment 218(9)

Unemployment and the earnings distribution 225(2)

Employment 227(11)

Work hours 238(5)

Benefits 243(7)

Nonstandard work 250(12)

Part-time work 259(2)

Temping 261(1)

Self-employment 261(1)

Job stability and job security 262(15)

Declining job stability 264(6)

Displacement 270(3)

Job security 273(4)

Wealth: deeper in debt 277(32)

Net worth 278(7)

Racial divide 283(1)

Low net worth 284(1)

Assets 285(9)

Stocks 286(3)

Home ownership 289(3)

Retirement wealth and income adequacy 292(2)

Liabilities 294(15)

Debt service 298(2)

Hardship 300(2)

Student loans 302(7)

Poverty: historic progress, but high rates persist 309(48)

The course and composition of poverty, 1959-2000 311(8)

Alternative approaches to measuring poverty 319(11)

What's wrong with the current poverty measure? 319(11)

Poverty, growth, and the inequality wedge 330(12)

The impact of demographic change 333(5)

The changing effects of taxes and transfers 338(4)

Work and poverty: the policy thrust of the 1990s 342(8)

Poverty and the low-wage labor market 350(7)

Regional Analysis: significant variation among the states 357(38)

Income 358(8)

Labor markets 366(19)

Poverty and low-wage shares 385(10)

International Comparisons: more inequality, less mobility out of poverty 395(38)

Incomes and productivity: U.S. lead narrows 396(7)

Workers' wages and compensation: unequal growth 403(6)

Household income: unequal growth 409(5)

Poverty: deeper and more enduring in the United States 414(8)

Employment and hours worked: problems with the U.S. model 422(8)

Evaluating the U.S. model 430(3)
Appendix A: The family income data series 433(6)
Appendix B: Wage analysis computations 439(8)
Table notes 447(18)
Figure notes 465(8)
Bibliography 473(10)
Index 483(10)
About EPI 493(1)
About the authors 494