Poverty and Inequality

Inequality Trends Economic Security Program Successes

Report

A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality

January 13, 2020 | Chad Stone, Danilo Trisi, Arloc Sherman and Jennifer Beltrán

The years from the end of World War II into the 1970s were ones of substantial economic growth and broadly shared prosperity. Beginning in the 1970s, economic growth slowed and the income gap widened.

Deep Poverty Among Children Rose in TANF’s First Decade, Then Fell as Other Programs Strengthened

February 27, 2020

Blog

Census: Income Gains Uneven Across States, Racial and Ethnic Groups

October 8, 2019

Report

Child Poverty Falls to Record Low, Comprehensive Measure Shows Stronger Government Policies Account for Long-Term Improvement

October 5, 2017

Report

Government’s Pandemic Response Turned a Would-Be Poverty Surge Into a Record Poverty Decline

August 29, 2023 | Danilo Trisi

Report

Deep Poverty Among Children Rose in TANF’s First Decade, Then Fell as Other Programs Strengthened

February 27, 2020 | Danilo Trisi and Matt Saenz

New on this Topic

Report

What to Watch for in Next Week’s Census Data on Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance in 2022

September 7, 2023

Statement

In Pandemic’s Second Year, Government Policies Helped Drive Child Poverty Rate to a Record Low, Cut Uninsured Rate, New Census Data Show

September 13, 2022

Report

What to Know About Next Week’s Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance Figures for 2021

September 8, 2022

Statement

Parrott: Today’s Census Data Show That Vigorous Policies Kept 53 Million People Above Poverty Line in 2020

September 14, 2021

Report

What to Expect in This Week’s Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance Figures for 2020

September 13, 2021

Research Note

Research Note: How the Pandemic Could Skew Official Poverty Figures for 2019

September 8, 2020

Policy Basics

The gap between rich and poor has been growing for decades, reaching levels not seen since the “Roaring ‘20s.”

We track income trends, and we analyze tax and spending proposals for their effects on income inequality. We promote policies that would help offset rising inequality, and we oppose policies that would make inequality worse.

Experts

Claire Zippel

5 Takeaways From Last Week’s Figures on Poverty, Inequality, and Health Coverage

Here are five key findings from our analyses (here and here) and blog posts on the new figures from the Census Bureau and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While poverty and...

Poverty Fell and Health Coverage Improved in 2013, But Economic Recovery Is Slow to Reach Many

The poverty rate dropped significantly in 2013 for the first time since 2006 and only the second time since 2000, Census data released September 16 show. Incomes were unchanged for middle-income...

Why More Inequality Means Less State Revenue — And How States Can Respond

Growing income inequality in recent decades has slowed state tax collections, a new report from Standard & Poor’s finds, making it harder to fund public services ― like education ― that lay...

Income Inequality Remains at Historic High, Census Data Show

Income inequality remained near a record high in 2013 by several measures the Census Bureau released earlier this week, with data going back to 1967. The principal Census summary measure of household...

Media Briefing: Examining the New 2013 Census Data on Poverty, Health Insurance Coverage, and Income

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing for journalists Tuesday, September 16, at 2:00 p.m. (ET) to examine the new Census Bureau data for 2013 on poverty, health...

Tomorrow's Poverty Data Will Give Only Partial Picture

As our preview of tomorrow’s Census release of 2013 poverty data explains, the official poverty statistics are based on pre-tax cash income, so they omit support like SNAP (formerly food stamps)...

5 Facts to Help You Understand Next Week’s Poverty Figures

Our new report provides context for the official poverty and income figures for 2013, which the Census Bureau will release on Tuesday. Here are the highlights: As in other recent...

John Oliver Debunks Some Estate Tax Myths

John Oliver’s HBO show this weekend featured a segment on income and wealth inequality (warning: colorful language!), and Oliver cited showing that 99.86 percent of all estates in 2013 owed no...

IMF Joins Calls for Strengthening EITC and Minimum Wage

We noted yesterday a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) describes the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as “effective in fighting poverty and encouraging...

OECD Calls for Strengthening EITC and Minimum Wage

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) “has been effective in fighting poverty and encouraging work,” the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) new Economic Survey of the...

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