Income and Wealth Disparities Continue through Old Age

Income and wealth inequality in the United States have increased over the last several decades. We looked at whether these trends continue for older Americans as they age.

We compared income and wealth for all older households from 1989 through 2016 and found households in the top 20% saw disproportionately greater gains than other households.

We also looked at income and wealth for a group of older Americans as they aged. We found disparities in income decreased, possibly due to the transition from working to retirement. Disparities in wealth increased, perhaps because of significant differences in the size of some assets, such as home equity.