RICH GETTING RICHER; STATE GETS POOR MARKS AS INCOME GAP RISES INCOME GAP UP IN LATEST STUDY.Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer California's rich got relatively richer in the 1990s while the middle class and poor fell behind, a new economic study to be released today reports. The national study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a non-profit think tank which describes itself as a "policy organization ... working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. and the Economic Policy Institute - liberal think tanks based in Washington, D.C. - found the state's lower- and middle-class families are earning less than they did in the late 1980s in inflation-adjusted dollars. California ranked fifth in the nation for the disparity between rich and poor behind New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Arizona, New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). and Louisiana. The states with the narrowest gaps were Utah, Indiana, Iowa, North Dakota North Dakota, state in the N central United States. It is bordered by Minnesota, across the Red River of the North (E), South Dakota (S), Montana (W), and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (N). and Colorado. The average annual earnings of the top one-fifth of California's families grew to $146,070 in the late 1990s, a 9 percent increase over the late 1980s. The richest fifth accounted for 49 percent of the state's total income. During the same period, inflation-adjusted earnings for the state's poorest fifth of families fell 10 percent to $12,240. The middle class also fell behind, with average incomes dropping 5 percent, or about $2,250 a year, for the middle fifth of the state's families, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the 62-page report. The study was based on income data from the U.S. Census Bureau Noun 1. Census Bureau - the bureau of the Commerce Department responsible for taking the census; provides demographic information and analyses about the population of the United States Bureau of the Census . Most analysts were not surprised by the study's results. Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the with the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Economic Development Corporation, said several countywide programs are trying to address the problem. ``It's taken us a while to get here, and it's going to take us a while to get out of it,'' Kyser said. ``This is something that's very important to everybody, no matter where you live.'' Kyser said the changing economy, including the 1990s exodus of high- paying manufacturing and aerospace jobs, has contributed to the income gap locally. On a statewide level, analysts say high-tech millionaires have skewed skewed curve of a usually unimodal distribution with one tail drawn out more than the other and the median will lie above or below the mean. skewed Epidemiology adjective Referring to an asymmetrical distribution of a population or of data the scale and have drawn attention away from the millions of workers and working poor who are struggling to pay the bills. And on a nationwide basis, the study said the growing gap in wages is the primary reason for the growing disparity between rich and poor. But investment income - including rent and capital gains - also plays a role, the report said. Some economists said the trend may already be reversing itself. ``There is reason to believe that gap has stopped growing and may actually be declining in the last five years,'' economist Stephen Levy, director of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy, told The Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. . ``Incomes at the bottom are growing faster in the last five years.'' But Levy acknowledged that recent income growth has not offset the falloff fall·off n. A reduction or decrease: a falloff in car sales. Noun 1. falloff - a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality; "the team went into a slump"; "a gradual slack in in some Californians' earnings since the 1970s. That decline has been particularly pronounced for the bottom fifth of wage-earners. According to the study, inflation-adjusted earnings for the poorest fifth of the state's families fell 19 percent between the late 1970s and the late 1990s. For the richest 5 percent, average family income grew by 48 percent over the same period, the report said. WIDENING INCOME GAP Key findings by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities about income distribution in California and the nation. --Average family income nationally for the poorest 20 percent: $12,990, down $900 since the late 1970s when adjusted for inflation. --Average family income in California for the poorest 20 percent: $12,240, down $2,880 since the late 1970s when adjusted for inflation. --Average family income nationally for the richest 20 percent: $137,870, up $17,870 since the late 1970s when adjusted for inflation. --Average family income in California for the richest 20 percent: $146,070, up $12,020 since the late 1970s when adjusted for inflation. --Ratio of income between richest and poorest 20 percent of families nationally: 7.4-to-1 in the late 1970s, 10.6-to-1 in the late 1990s. --Ratio of income between richest and poorest 20 percent of families in California: 7.6-to-1 in the late 1970s, 11.9-to-1 in the late 1990s. - Associated Press CAPTION(S): Box, Chart Box: WIDENING INCOME GAP (see text) Chart: THE GAP GROWS Source: The Economic Policy Institute; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. - Associated Press |
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