One Cause Of Inequality: More Rich Marrying One Another

[psycopk]

Income inequality is a hot topic in Washington. President Barack Obama is expected to highlight inequality and economic mobility in his State of the Union address Tuesday.

Associated Press

One factor he likely won’t discuss: Income inequality has gotten worse in past decades in part because college-educated, high-earning men and women are more likely to marry each other, rather than get hitched to partners with divergent education or wage levels.

A research paper — by University of Pennsylvania economist Jeremy Greenwood; Nezih Guner, a research professor at Markets, Organizations and Votes in Economics (MOVE), a research institute based in Barcelona; University of Konstanz economist Georgi Kocharkov; and University of Mannheim economist Cezar Santos — tracks trends from 1960 to 2005.

The paper, “Marry Your Like: Assortative Mating and Income Inequality,” finds that the rise of women in the workforce and a growing tendency to find a partner from a similar educational and professional background is exacerbating income trends.

The upshot: The rich are getting richer. In 1960, a household in the top 10% earned about three-and-a-half times the mean U.S. income. In 2005, that had jumped to more than four times the mean.

For the bottom 10%, the situation has deteriorated. In 1960, such a household earned 16% of mean income. By 2005, that was down to 8%.

“Incomes are more polarized in 2005,” the paper says. “The change in wages across individuals is the primary driver of this increase in income inequality.”

The authors don’t offer a solution. They do note that if marriages followed the same patterns as in 1960 there would be a significant reduction in income inequality.

“So, if people matched in 2005 according to the standardized mating pattern observed in 1960, which showed less positive assortative matching, then income inequality would drop because income is more diversified across husband and wife,” the paper says.

[Spartan]

Same with Caste feeling in our Country...

[psycopk]

Same with Caste feeling in our Country...

 

leka pote income inequality pogotali ani poor girl/boy ni pelli chesko mantava endi.. similar backgrounds nundi vachina valla interests okela untai kabati pelli cheskovatam lo tappu ledu..