Family and nonfamily households alike experienced growth in real median income between 1998 and 1999. Median household income in the Northeast and West did not change between 1998 and 1999. This is the third straight year that men have experienced an annual increase in earnings. Analysis of aggregate shares of income and of the Gini index show that household income inequality remained unchanged between 1998 and 1999. This change is not statistically different from the 2.7 percent increase for the official measure.
Government transfers have a much greater effect than taxes on redistributing income.
1Changes in real income refer to comparisons after adjusting for inflation. The difference between the 1998-1999 percent changes in income for family and nonfamily households was not statistically significant.