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A Stanford University study titled, "Growth in the Residential Segregation of Families by Income, 1970 - 2009," said households living in middle income areas declined sharply since 1970. Rising income inequality left once better off ones mostly low-income or poor.
In fact, data through 2007 were examined before today's economic crisis began. Conditions now are much worse. Study author Sean Reardon said income shifts have far-reaching implications for future generations if present trends continue. Children are especially disadvantaged without access to good schools, preschool, child care, and support networks.
Former solid middle class areas are now low-income or poor. Income differences have profound effects. One example shows up on standardized test scores. The differential between rich and poor children is 40% greater than in 1970.
Moreover, the gap between rich and poor college completion (a key predictor of future success) is 50% greater than the 1990s. Over half of children from higher income families finish college compared to less than 10% of those in lower income households.
According to Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson:
"Rising inequality" produces a "two-tiered society....in which the more affluent citizens live lives fundamentally different from middle and lower-income groups. This divide decreases a sense of community."
In October 2011, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published after-tax income data from 1979 - 2007, saying it grew:
- 275% for the top 1%;
- 65% for the next 19%;
- less than 40% for next 60%; and
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