issue Inequality & Mobility

Equitable Growth supports research and policy analysis on how trends in economic inequality and mobility and changes in the economy have affected the concentration of wealth, income, and earnings, and how these distributional shifts have affected the promise of economic security and opportunity.

Photo credit: Monster Ztudio/shutterstock.com

During the mid-20th century, strong economic growth was broadly shared, as incomes increased and children could expect a better quality of life than their parents, though significant disparities across demographic groups remained. In recent decades, wealth, income, and earnings inequality have been rising and mobility declining, and demographic disparities persist. Better understanding these trends and their implications for economic growth will inform evidence-backed policies that improve growth and mobility for people across incomes, regions, and demographic groups.

Featured Research

In Conversation

In Conversation with Miles Corak

Inequality & Mobility
report

U.S. economic mobility trends and outcomes

Inequality & Mobility
In Conversation

In conversation with Sasha Killewald

Inequality & Mobility
post

GDP 2.0: Measuring who prospers when the U.S. economy grows

Inequality & Mobility
post

Stratification economics: What it is and how it advances our understanding of inequality

Inequality & Mobility
post

Six charts that explain how inequality in the United States changed over the past 20 years

Inequality & Mobility
TOPICS: 1
TOPICS: GDP 2.0

Explore Content in Inequality & Mobility2537

Reset
post

For Juneteenth: A look at economic racial inequality between white and black Americans

Inequality & Mobility
post

Why it’s important to pay attention to distributional consequences of economic policies

Inequality & MobilityTax & Macroeconomics
post

Paid family care leave is a missing piece in the U.S. social insurance system

FamiliesInequality & MobilityLabor
report

Paid family care leave

FamiliesInequality & MobilityLabor
post

Low intergenerational mobility in the United States shows impact of race and public policy

Inequality & Mobility
In Conversation

In Conversation with Janet Currie

FamiliesInequality & Mobility
post

How market power has increased U.S. inequality

CompetitionInequality & MobilityLabor
post

Rising income inequality exacerbates downward economic mobility

Inequality & Mobility
post

New research suggests early exposure to innovation is more effective than financial incentives in stimulating innovation

Inequality & MobilityTax & Macroeconomics
In Conversation

In Conversation with Raj Chetty

Inequality & Mobility
post

A judicial victory for pay transparency in the United States in the run-up to Women’s Equal Pay Day

LaborInequality & Mobility
post

Linking racial stratification and poor health outcomes to economic inequality in the United States

Inequality & MobilityFamilies

Experts on the issue

Grantee

Heather Sarsons

University of Chicago

Learn More
Grantee

Katherine Thomas

New York University

Learn More
Guest Author

Naomi Zewde

University of California, Los Angels

Learn More
Grantee

Joan Williams

University of California, Hastings College of Law

Learn More
Grantee

Fenaba Addo

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Learn More
Connect with us!

Explore the Equitable Growth network of experts around the country and get answers to today's most pressing questions!

Get in Touch