The source of the increased inequality in the distribution of male earnings has been the focus of much economic analysis. In this working paper, Robert H. Haveman and Lawrence Buron attempt to find the source of the increased inequality in the distribution of male earnings since the 1970s....

The United States' official poverty measure defines the poor in terms of a family's actual, yearly cash income relative to an estimate of the income needed to sustain a minimally acceptable standard of living. An alternative definition, designed to reflect a family's ability to achieve economic...