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 & Mobility2595

Reset
Boosting Wages

Addressing gender and racial disparities in the U.S. labor market to boost wages and power innovation

CompetitionInequality & MobilityLabor
Boosting Wages

Place-conscious federal policies to reduce regional economic disparities in the United States

Inequality & MobilityLabor
Boosting Wages

Sovereignty and improved economic outcomes for American Indians: Building on the gains made since 1990

Inequality & MobilityLabor
Coronavirus Recession

U.S. retail sector’s recession experiences highlight continuing labor market travails

Inequality & MobilityLabor
Expert Focus

Expert Focus: Understanding the role of market structure in equitable growth

CompetitionInequality & Mobility
Coronavirus Recession

New research shows the impact of 2020 job and income losses on family dynamics and parents’ mental health in vulnerable households

FamiliesInequality & MobilityLabor
working paper

Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Family Dynamics in Economically Vulnerable Households

FamiliesInequality & MobilityLabor
post

In the United States, it’s not what you know but who your parents know

Inequality & MobilityFamiliesLabor
Past Event

Equitable Growth 2021: People and Research Advancing Economic Evidence

Inequality & Mobility
post

Equitable Growth’s Household Pulse graphs: October 14 – 26

Inequality & Mobility
working paper

The Intergenerational Transmission of Employers and the Earnings of Young Workers

Inequality & MobilityFamiliesLabor
Vision 2020

Economic policy guides to reduce inequality for the 2020 U.S. election-year presidential and congressional transition

Inequality & Mobility

Experts on the issue

Grantee

Morris Kleiner

University of Minnesota

Learn More
Grantee

Heather Sarsons

University of Chicago

Learn More
Grantee

Leah Stokes

University of California, Santa Barbara

Learn More
Grantee

Joan Williams

University of California, Hastings College of Law

Learn More
Grantee

Martina Jasova

Barnard College

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