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Gap grows between Ohio’s rich and poor

Income inequality highest in Montgomery County

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By Ken McCall and Randy Tucker, Staff Writer Updated 9:18 AM Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing, new census data show.

The top 20 percent of households in the nation last year earned more than 15 times what the bottom fifth brought in, data released Tuesday show.

The top-earning 20 percent of households in the U.S. earned more than half of all money made last year, the new American Community Survey data show. The bottom fifth, by comparison, made only 3.3 percent of the income pie.

Ohio was only slightly less unequal than the nation. The top-earning 20 percent made 14.3 times what the bottom fifth made.

Data released earlier in the month from the bureau’s Current Population Survey indicate that the ratio of haves to have-nots was greater in 2009 than in any year since 1967, when the measure began to be tracked.

The historical data have margins of error, however, and census officials caution that some earlier years may not be statistically different.

Nevertheless, said Chuck Nelson, assistant chief of housing and household statistics with the Census Bureau, the nation has been trending toward more income inequality for decades.

“Certainly, I think, all measures are showing that over time, income inequality has been growing,” Nelson said.

Robert Premus, an economics professor at Wright State University, points to technological advances that have allowed companies to manage resources more effectively without the need for manual labor as the primary reason for growing income gaps.

Technology “leaves people without advanced skills with fewer job options and potential for income growth,” he said.

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