Income Inequality In Metro Boston Among Worst In U.S.

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(AP)

(AP)

In economics, there’s something called the Gini coefficient. It’s a measurement used to calculate income inequality and it works on a scale of zero to 1. In general, the higher the number, the more wealth is controlled by a small group of people.

Most communities fall somewhere in between. In Greater Boston the number is near the middle — .47 — and that number is high.

According to a new report (PDF) from the Metropolitan Area Planing Council, the wealthiest 20 percent of Metro Boston residents earn 10 time the poorest 20 percent. The report found that Metro Boston is less equitable when it comes to income than 85 percent of U.S. metro areas, and it’s only getting worse:

“Over the past 30 years, wealth in the region has become increasingly concentrated, creating a smaller group of wealthy families than ever before, while more Greater Bostonians than ever struggle to make ends meet.”

Guest:

  • Dragnet

    Not surprised at all.  Boston is a “ click” of self-centered and politically connected people.

    • saf

      *clique

  • cjygudwin

    The City is home to the nations largest homeless shelter, the single largest shelter for veterans, and has the highest density of people living in residential drug and alcohol treatment programs of any metropolitan area. These skew the numbers for a city with a small population.
    The percentage of working poor within city limits is very small compared to almost anywhere.
    I have heard that were it not for the decaying brick housing projects constructed between 1945 and 1970, Boston would have the wealthiest working population of any city in the US.

    • Anonymous

      You heard? From whom and from where? Wake up!

      • cjygudwin

        The point is that income studies are meaningless when they include residents who are not employed. Many of the non-employed are in Boston for various social programs and shelters. They are not from Boston. They came here for social services.
        Unemployment here is significantly lower than most of the US. There are jobs available. The sky is not falling although the non-working Occupy protesters truly want to people to believe that it is.

        • Anonymous

          Interesting how you include the OWS folks in your viewpoints.
          This tells me a lot about you.
          As John Adams once said facts are stubborn things and indeed they are. Here’s a fact for you: the medium wage if the majority of Americans has remained flat for the past 30 years and is going down.
          Here’s another fact the wealthiest .1% have made gains that are off the charts. And yet you use the unemployed as ruses for your argument. The reality is income inequality is rampant in this country  and in this area it’s pretty clear to see that it’s not different than anyplace else. In fact it’s worse due to the extremely high cost of living.

          • cjygudwin

            Yes, unskilled/low skilled labor has a market value determined by supply-and-demand. As the population increases, that number will keep going down.
            Setting an artificial price for labor which is far above its market value makes the number of jobs shrink.
            I have not seen one truly viable solution for this offered by the Occupy protesters. Manufacturing is gone from most First-World countries and isn’t coming back ever. If you have low skills you are going to be poor in the future.

  • Anonymous

     The degree of safety net in Boston might be the most generous in the world.  I think some of these journalists need to stand near a super market grocery cash register and do some accurate reporting. After recoqnizing what food stamps pay for have them then follow a few home. Take some photos of the furnishings , size, and locations of where the food stamp people live. Ask some of them to track for you there employment career or lack there of. Ask what employment career their parents and grandparents had and verify it. There is a great need of some accurate info. Interviewing social workers who come out of some of the health and welfare centers might also help.  I have a hunch that the results will be very surprising and sad, particularly if you are a hard working taxpayer.  Nobody out there fighting for or representing them.  I suspect you might find that most of the world would like to live at poverty level in Boston.

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