At 10:52 AM -0600 on 11/2/00, National Center for Policy Analysis wrote: > UP AND DOWN THE INCOME LADDER > > Politicians addicted to class warfare rhetoric use the term "the > rich" as though it were some permanent economic class. But more > moderate analysts point out that individuals move up and down > the income ladder with startling frequency. > > Are those individuals with higher incomes right after graduation > from high school or college still on the top rung 10 or 20 years > later? Anyone who has attended a school reunion knows that the > end results are often surprising. > > o A Social Security-based study has documented that more > than 70 percent of male workers move significant > distances up or down the income ladder in a span of only > 15 years. > > o Earnings histories tracked by Social Security show that > less than 50 percent of the people on the top or bottom > rung in any year are still on the same rung 10 to 15 > years later. > > o On the bottom rung, the "stagnation rate" is only 35 > percent. > > o Another study, using the National Longitudinal Survey of > Youth, has revealed that 60 percent of the young people > who start out working for minimum wages no longer work > for such low wages two years later -- and only 15 percent > have minimum-wage jobs three years later. > > Some observers point out that many academics fail to appreciate > the dynamics of economic mobility because they work in rigidly > hierarchical university systems where promotion must be granted > by one's seniors. > > The evidence is overwhelming, however, that such immobility is > the exception, not the rule. > > Source: Bradley Schiller (American University School of Public > Affairs), "Who Are the Rich?" Washington Times, November 2, > 2000. > > For text > http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/ed-column-2000112193044.htm > > For more on Income Mobility > http://www.ncpa.org/pd/economy/econ7.html -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
