Note: the previous version of this paper was circulated as Uncovering the American Dream: Inequality and Mobility in Social Security Earnings Data since 1937 and is available as the NBER working paper #13345. There are differences in the definition of the sample used in the two versions although qualitative findings are not affected. The series used in the previous version are available as well.
If you use any of this data, you should cite the paper as the source of the data and for the description of methodology. The web appendix with complete details is here.
Figure 1: Gini Coefficient Series
Figure 2: Percentile ratios Log(P80/P50) and Log(P50/P20)
Figure 3: Gini coefficient: Annual Earnings vs 5-Year Earnings
Figure 4: Mobility Series: Shorrocks Index and Rank Correlation
Figure 5: Variance of Annual, Permanent and Transitory (log) Earnings
Figure 6A: Top 1% Earnings Share: Annual vs 5-Year
Figure 6B: Probability of Staying in the Top 1%
Figure 7: Long-Terms Earnings Gini Coefficient Series
Figure 8: Long-Term Mobility: Rank Correlation in 11 Year Earnings Spans
Figure 9: Long-Term Earnings Gini Coefficients by Birth Cohort
Figure 10: Gender Gap in Upper Earnings Groups
Figure 11: Long-Term Upward Mobility: Gender Effects
Figure A1: Average Real Earnings and Number of Workers in Core Sample
Figure A2: Average Earnings and Number of Workers in Alternative Samples
Figure A3: Annual Earnings Gini Coefficient Sensitivity
Figure A4: Percentile Ratios Sensitivity
Figure A5: 5-Year Earnings Average Gini Coefficients Sensitivity
Figure A6: Year to Year Rank Correlation Sensitivity
Figure A7: Transitory Variance Sensitivity
Figure A8: 11-Year Earnings Average Gini Coefficients Sensitivity
Figure A9: Long-Term Rank Correlation Sensitivity
Figure A10: Long-Term Upward Mobility and Gender: Cohort-Based Estimates
Table I - Annual Earnings Inequality
Table II - Five-Year Average Earnings Inequality and Short-Term Mobility
Table III - Long-Term Inequality and Mobility