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Title: Differences Among Americans in Living Standards Across the Twentieth Century

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2002

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Abstract: Americans have long been loath to describe themselves in terms of class. Compared to the British, for example, Americans are far less likely to say that their society is composed of haves and have nots.2 In many respects, American culture is notably egalitarian; for centuries, foreign visitors have remarked on how little deference common folk give to their social betters here. They also used to note the political equality among citizens in a former era when the United States was exceptionally democratic. But egalitarian style and universal rights coexist with profound differences in economic resources. Americans are and have always been divided economically. Indeed, America in 2000 was the most economically divided nation in the developed world it had the widest spread in wealth. These divisions not only challenge the self-image of Americans as egalitarian, they have further consequences. Research shows that nations and communities with relatively wide disparities in material standards of living tend also to have relatively high rates of social problems, civic alienation, and discontent. In this paper, we examine differences in Americans standards of living in 2000 and how differences evolved over the twentieth century, especially since World War II. We describe how Americans in 2000 were separated by their material circumstances and how those distinctions compare to ones earlier in the twentieth century, taking into account peoples annual incomes, financial assets, consumption, and subjective assessments of their wealth. For each of these dimensions, we first contrast the well-being of better-off to less well-off Americans. Second, we distinguish the living standards of people of different ages, ancestries, educational levels, and locations. Over most of the century, economic divisions among Americans narrowed considerably in both these ways affluent and indigent became less distinct, as did Americans of different regions and races. But that the convergence stalled and then reversed in roughly the last three decades, widening the economic differences among Americans, most notably dividing by levels of education.

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Authors: Hout, Michael; Fischer, Claude S.

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Institution: University of California - Berkeley

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Publisher Location: Berkeley, CA

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Housing and Segregation, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Poverty and Welfare

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