Uncovering the American dream
Subtitle: inequality and mobility in social security earnings data since 1937
By: Wojciech Kopczuk, Emmanuel Saez, Jae Song.
Contributors: Saez, Emmanuel.; Song, Jae.; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series -- no. 13345.; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 13345.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 84
Subjects: Social security -- United States -- History -- Mathematical models; Income distribution -- United States -- History -- Mathematical models
Description: This paper uses Social Security Administration longitudinal earnings micro data since 1937 to analyze the evolution of inequality and mobility in the United States. Earnings inequality follows a U-shape pattern, decreasing sharply up to 1953 and increasing steadily afterwards. We find that short-term and long-term (rank based) mobility among all workers has been quite stable since 1950 (after a temporary surge during World War II). Therefore, the pattern of annual earnings inequality is very close to the pattern of inequality of longer term earnings. Mobility at the top has also been very stable and has not mitigated the dramatic increase in annual earnings concentration since the 1970s. However, the stability in long-term earnings mobility among all workers masks substantial heterogeneity across demographic groups. The decrease in the gender earnings gap and the substantial increase in upward mobility over a career for women is the driving force behind the relative stability of overall mobility measures which mask declines in mobility among men. In contrast, overall inequality and mobility patterns are not significantly influenced by the changing size and structure of immigration nor by changes in the black/white earnings gaps.
Notes: "August 2007"

Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-49).

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