I'm happy...

[Enrique Diaz-Alvarez]

Brad De Long wrote:
> 
> I'm happy...
> 
> My _State of Working America 1998-1999_ came in the mail...
> 
> Median family income for families where the householder is under 25 falls
> from $28,220 (1997 prices) in 1979 to $20,820 (1997 prices) in 1997?
> 
> F***!
> 
> Hispanic median family incomes fall from 69% of white levels in 1979 to 60%
> of white levels in 1997 (but Black median family incomes rise from 57% to
> 61% of white levels)...
> 
> The share of total family income earned by the bottom 60% of families falls
> from 34.5% in 1979 to 29.8% in 1997...
> 
> Average family income for the top 1% of families in 1996 is $326,777;
> average family income for the bottom 20% of families is $12,234...
> 
> Husbands in prime-age families in the top fifth of the income distribution
> worked an average of 2,450 hours in 1996; in the bottom fifth of the income
> distribution they worked 1,633 hours in 1996...
> 
> Wives in prime-age families in the top fifth of the income distribution
> worked an average of 1,595 hours in 1996; in the bottom fifth of the income
> distribution they worked 717 hours in 1996...
> 

How do they get those numbers? Do they ask the workers themselves?

I ask this because, in my experience, exaggerating about how long one
spends at work, and the resulting lack of social and family life (as if
this were something to brag about) is par for course among high-salary
US professionals.

-- 
Enrique Diaz-Alvarez            Office # (607) 255 5034	
Electrical Engineering          Home #   (607) 272 4808
112 Phillips Hall               Fax #    (607) 255 4565
Cornell University              mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu
Ithaca, NY 14853                http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique