Definition: Income Inequality is a wide gap between the money earned by the richest people compared to the poorest.
Why Income Inequality Matters: Income inequality is linked to economic, people's well-being, migration, discrimination, and growth of a country. Consequently, when income inequality is high, it might result in violence and tension between society.
Use the following keywords with "OR" to expand your search in catalog or database:
Then add "AND" with your "specific search terms" to narrow down your results (See Research Process for more detailed information about using OR / AND.)
The following images are sample searches in "Academic Search Complete" and "Gale Opposing Viewpoints" databases.
If you know a specific collection has what you need, or if you're struggling to narrow a search from the search bar above, try one of these.
Income Inequality : Economic Disparities and the Middle Class in Affluent Countries
by
Presents comparative, empirical research on a topic that has long preoccupied scholars, politicians, and everyday citizens: economic inequality. While income and wealth inequality across all populations is the primary focus, the contributions to this book pay special attention to the middle class, a segment often not addressed in inequality literature.
Inequality: Causes and Consequences
by
Inequality has been rising in many countries over the last decades and the process seems to have accelerated with the Great Recession. Not only is income distribution more unequal today than 40 years ago, but also its transmission through generations has increased. In other words, many countries no longer experience upward economic mobility as was prevalent in the past. Research in Labor Economics volume 43 contains new and innovative research on the causes and consequences of inequality. Topics include the way inequality is measured, the level of equal opportunities across countries, the impact of education, the effect of changing occupational structure, the consequences of changing productivity within the firm, the roles of stagnating average real wages, the decline of union membership, the effect of maternal labor supply on labor market outcomes of their children, and the link between income inequality and health.
Inequality in Living Standards since 1980: Income Tells Only a Small Part of the Story
by
Studies of wage and income inequality among U.S. citizens over the past thirty years have engendered the common wisdom that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. But is it really that simple? The authors contend that the evolution of income and wage inequalities offers only a partial picture of changes in prosperity in recent decades. Studying changes in the distribution of consumption and expenditure helps to amplify this picture - income, after all, is valued in large part because it allows consumption - and yields a more complete understanding of economic well-being in America.
Equal Is Unfair: America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality
by
We've all heard that the American Dream is vanishing, and that the cause is rising income inequality. The rich are getting richer by rigging the system in their favor, leaving the rest of us to struggle just to keep our heads above water. To save the American Dream, we're told that we need to fight inequality through tax hikes, wealth redistribution schemes, and a far higher minimum wage. But what if that narrative is wrong? What if the real threat to the American Dream isn't rising income inequality--but an all-out war on success?
The Politics of Income Inequality in the United States
by
This book revolves around one central question: do political dynamics have a systematic and predictable influence on distributional outcomes in the United States? The answer is a resounding yes. Utilizing data from mass income surveys, elite surveys and aggregate time series, as well as theoretical insights from both American and comparative politics, Kelly shows that income inequality is a fundamental part of the US macro political system. Shifts in public opinion, party control of government and the ideological direction of policy all have important consequences for distributional outcomes.
Blue Collar Blues: Is Trade to Blame for Rising US Income Inequality?
by
International trade accounts for only a small share of growing income inequality and labor-market displacement in the United States. Lawrence deconstructs the gap in real blue-collar wages and labor productivity growth between 1981 and 2006 and estimates how much higher these wages might have been had income growth been distributed proportionately and how much of the gap is due to measurement and technical factors about which little can be done.
Access polls from respected news outlets, universities, and research organizations on thousands of timely topics—from climate change and elections to health care, economics, and popular culture. Includes over 750,000 poll questions from 1986 to today, with results you can view as bar graphs, pie charts, or raw data.
Available for the 2025–26 academic year as a pilot, so explore the resource and share your thoughts; fill out the feedback form.
This page was originally developed by Loan Nguyen.
First published: Summer 2020
This work by Lone Star College-University Park Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
