Income Inequality Unchanged Since 2001

From a recent report from the Joint Economic Committee of Congress:

According to a key Census Bureau measure, income inequality has been essentially unchanged since 2001. In response to a request by the staff of the Joint Economic Committee, a statistical test performed by the Census Bureau yesterday confirms that no statistically significant change in the inequality measure occurred between 2001 and 2005, the last year for which data are available.

In the bottom fifth of households, 58.7 percent have no earners, whereas in the top fifth 76.3 percent of households have two or more earners. There is often good reason not to work, such as retirement or disability, but obviously households without earners will lack earnings.

Inequality in consumption is much less than inequality in income. For example, the level of consumption in the bottom fifth is nearly twice that of income, indicating that income is not necessarily the best measure of economic well-being.