single-parent households tends to be relatively high.

These changes in family structure, including the growth of single-parent families who tend to be at the lower

end of the income distribution, and the growth of two-career high-earner couples near the top end of the

income distribution, account for roughly half of the rise in income inequality across households in recent

decades.

LINK IT UP

Visit this website (http://openstax.org/l/US_wealth) to watch a video that illustrates the distribution of wealth in

the United States.

Causes of Growing Inequality: A Shift in the Distribution of Wages

Another factor behind the rise in U.S. income inequality is that earnings have become less equal since the late

1970s. In particular, the earnings of high-skilled labor relative to low-skilled labor have increased. Winner-

take-all labor markets result from changes in technology, which have increased global demand for
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