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

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Boosting Wages

Foreword: Boosting Wages for U.S. Workers in the New Economy

Inequality & MobilityFamiliesLabor
Boosting Wages

Broad structural change is needed to boost wages in a U.S. economy that is more equitable to produce strong, sustainable economic growth

LaborInequality & MobilityFamilies
Boosting Wages

Boosting wages when U.S. labor markets are not competitive

CompetitionLaborInequality & Mobility
Boosting Wages

U.S. labor markets require a new approach to higher education

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

Inequality & MobilityFamiliesLabor

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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