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.

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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
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U.S. economic mobility trends and outcomes

Inequality & Mobility
In Conversation

In conversation with Sasha Killewald

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

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

Inequality & Mobility
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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

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Carbon Pricing and Innovation in a World of Political Constraints

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Honoring Black History Month: How the history of violence and systemic racism continue to impact economic outcomes for African Americans

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Expert Focus: Diversifying the economics profession

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Executive action to spur equitable growth

Executive actions to coordinate federal countercyclical regulatory policy

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New research shows that reductions in air pollution have intergenerational consequences

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The Grandkids Aren’t Alright: The Intergenerational Effects of Prenatal Pollution Exposure

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Coronavirus Recession

Jobs report: Coronavirus recession hits workers in low-wage service industries who need access to the social safety net and effective labor protection enforcement

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The wage divide for Black and Latinx workers goes deeper than a ‘skills gap’ or requiring more credentials

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How combating voter suppression can help close the economic divides between Black and White Americans and spur U.S. economic growth

Inequality & Mobility
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The consequences of political inequality and voter suppression for U.S. economic inequality and growth

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Expert Focus: Understanding the economic impacts of climate change

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Boosting Wages

New Equitable Growth book presents broad structural changes to boost U.S. wages for more equitable and sustainable economic growth

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Experts on the issue

Grantee

Heather Sarsons

University of Chicago

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Grantee

Katherine Thomas

New York University

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Guest Author

Naomi Zewde

University of California, Los Angels

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Grantee

Joan Williams

University of California, Hastings College of Law

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Grantee

Fenaba Addo

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

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