Enhance the Success of Your New Year’s Goals 2: Overview

This continues our series on setting and achieving New Year’s Goals to improve your life

Just changing your New Year’s Resolutions into New Year’s Goals will not enhance success. You need to do more than change the title. I propose a framework to enhance your success. This framework will not just help you with your career goals. It enhances success of any goal you set. I call it the GoalsWork model. The GoalsWork model uses the word Goals to outline 5 steps to reinforce your success.

GoalsWork to Improve Life

People who set goals achieve more in life. Whether they set goals for careers, businesses, recreation, personal or family life, or mental and spiritual peace—goals work!

Walt Disney, the great dreamer and founder of a magical kingdom, said

• “The era we are living in today is a dream coming true.”
• “Somehow I can’t believe there are many heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true.”

GoalsWork Model

The word Goals forms an acronym to help you remember the model:

• Goals: Set goals that challenge you, that cause you to stretch. Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-sensitive).
• Others: Let others help you achieve your goals, especially people who have already achieved that specific goal or one similar.
• Act: Thinking and talking about your goal to others requires action to achieve it Select 2-4 actions you will perform each month and each week to achieve your goal.
• Limitations: Tackle the established, obstructive, or artificial limitations for your goal. Don’t fear failure, but learn from it.
• Synergy: Build a GoalsWork (or mastermind) team. Meet monthly and share what you have done, results, will do, and ideas to overcome limitations.

I’ve taught this model to thousands of people. Many have used it to improve their career, earn more money, increase family unity, find greater satisfaction in life, and more. I hope you take the time to study it, internalize it, and implement it.

Let GoalsWork for You!

Wednesday we review how setting SMART goals solidifies, in your mind, what to do

Enhance the Success of Your New Year’s Goals 2: Overview

This continues our series on setting and achieving New Year’s Goals to improve your life

Just changing your New Year’s Resolutions into New Year’s Goals will not enhance success. You need to do more than change the title. I propose a framework to enhance your success. This framework will not just help you with your career goals. It enhance success of any goal you set. I call it the GoalsWork model. The GoalsWork model uses the word Goals to outline 5 steps to reinforce your success.

GoalsWork to Improve Life

People who set goals achieve more in life. Whether they set goals for careers, businesses, recreation, personal or family life, or mental and spiritual peace—goals work!

Walt Disney, the great dreamer and founder of a magical kingdom, said

• “The era we are living in today is a dream coming true.”
• “Somehow I can’t believe there are many heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true.”

GoalsWork Model

The word Goals forms an acronym to help you remember the model:

• Goals: Set goals that challenge you, that cause you to stretch. Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-sensitive).
• Others: Let others help you achieve your goals, especially people who have already achieved that specific goal or one similar.
• Act: Thinking and talking about your goal to others requires action to achieve it Select 2-4 actions you will perform each month and each week to achieve your goal.
• Limitations: Tackle the established, obstructive, or artificial limitations for your goal. Don’t fear failure, but learn from it.
• Synergy: Build a GoalsWork (or mastermind) team. Meet monthly and share what you have done, results, will do, and ideas to overcome limitations.

I’ve taught this model to thousands of people. Many have used it to improve their career, earn more money, increase family unity, find greater satisfaction in life, and more. I hope you take the time to study it, internalize it, and implement it.

Let GoalsWork for You!

Wednesday we review how setting SMART goals solidifies, in your mind, what to do

Set New Year’s Goals, Not New Year’s Resolutions

Today and Monday we return to one of my favorite topics setting goals to grow

Each year millions of people resolve to change their life in the next twelve months. They resolve to lose weight, stop smoking, reduce debt, and scores of other good ideas. Unfortunately, resolutions seem to fade within a month. Most people cannot remember more than one or two of them by March. That’s why I prefer goals. Eleanor Roosevelt was attributed as saying “Goals are dreams with a deadline.”

Difference Between Goals and Resolutions

Why do we fail to achieve New Year’s Resolutions?  Writers and researchers cite various reasons:

• Making too many resolutions or unrealistic resolutions
• Surrounding yourself with temptation, but not with personal or social support
• Creating resolutions in the midst of emotion, but not planning action to succeed
• Failing to identify the factors that contribute to the behavior you wish to change
• Keeping the resolutions in your head and not writing them down and reading them

I believe the major difference between goals and resolutions involve the depth of our commitment and the action we dedicate to accomplishing the goals. We will discuss how assure success in our next post.

Roles in Which to Set Goals

I like Stephen R. Covey’s framework for looking at your life and setting goals. He provides a simple structure that allows you to identify the areas of your life you wish to improve and what you want to accomplish.

He used the term “Roles and Goals” in describing a method to implement the habit Begin with the End in Mind. 

• Roles:  refer to the our identities like mother, wife, manager, female, and Catholic
• Goals outline what you wish to accomplish for each role like increase my productivity by 10%. You can identify your goals by asking yourself “What is the most important things I can do in this role this year? This month? This week?

Take a few hours in the next few days to identify your roles and set your goals.

Monday we review how the GoalsWork model enhances chance that you achieve your goals

Let Us Praise the Heroic Teachers in All Our Cities

I wanted to applaud public teachers in our country in the aftermath of the tragedy in Newtown

The country responds to innocent lives terminated for unknown reasons by a twenty-year old assassin with no previous concerns or problems. While parents bury children, Congress and politicians debate gun control or freedoms. I would like to focus, instead, on the remarkable and heroic actions of public education teachers.

Teachers Deserve More Respect

Recently, many people have criticized public teachers  and public education. While some teachers may deserve the attacks, most teachers work hard and dedicate their lives to their students, and little pay.

Teachers in Newtown proved heroism when they barricaded doors  to delay the shooter so students could escape, or the principal and another teacher who died lunging to stop him.

One Teacher’s Opinion

My daughter posted the following on Facebook the day after the shooting in Newtown:

"My thoughts, like many others yesterday, were thoughts of sadness. I've been feeling lots of things through this, having lived around that area and knowing loved ones close to where this happened. But as I saw this story, one thought came to mind.... I am grateful to be a public education teacher. To be ranked with so many others, who on a daily basis, put others needs far above their own.

I work with and know many teachers, and know that many of their first thoughts, like mine were...."How would I keep my students safe if this happened?" I am grateful that I can be in a job where you do love those children you teach, and would do anything for them. I know some people would say that not having them in public schools would be the best.

I know that horrible things happen. I can say this for most teachers, our number one priority is ALWAYS our students!! I am grateful for 24 parents, that entrust their children to me everyday. I am grateful for those 24 students in my life. I am grateful to be a public education teacher!!!!!"

Friday we will discuss setting goals—and keeping them—in the new year

Merry Christmas! We Need His Peace More Than Ever

May the peace from the Lord’s atonement comfort and strengthen the families in Newton

I’m writing this the day after innocent children and brave teachers lost their lives in Newton, Connecticut. Ironically, this post will publish on Christmas Eve. I mourn, with the nation, for the lost birthdays, graduations, weddings, and families. I grieve with the spouses, children, and families of the adults. The tragedy hit deeper because my daughter acted as a nanny for a family just 20 miles from Newtown. Their neighbor, a police officer, responded to the call. He said the day started normal and then descended into pandemonium. We need to remember Christ’s promises.

Peach on Earth! Goodwill to Men

We celebrate his birth when angles declared “good tidings of great joy that shall be to all men.” They promised “Peace on earth1 Goodwill toward all men (meaning men and women). He lifted people around him with His love and teachings.

He taught doctrine that was hard to follow then, and still today. He taught us to not only love our neighbor, but to love our enemy, to turn our cheek when smitten, and to forgive those who despitefully use us 7 times 70.

Took Upon Himself Our Pains, Sorrows, Trials & Sins

Isaiah declared that

• “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
• “Surely he hath borne our grief's, and carried our sorrows:
• “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities”
• “With His stripes we are healed”
• “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” 

John, his beloved apostle, quoted the Lamb of God:

• “I will not leave you comfortless”
• “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”

We receive His peace when we accept his gift. The sacrifices at Gethsemane and Calgary give meaning to the birth in Bethlehem. 

Wednesday we discuss how you can use the time between the holidays to grow your career

Unemployment Benefits Expiring Across the Country

This post analyzes statements in the press about unemployment benefits finally expiring

Unemployment benefits, that congress extended 10 times in the past 4 years, have already begun expiring for people around the country. Prior to the recession, unemployment benefits provided income for 26 weeks. At the height of the recession Congress allowed people to receive a check for up to 99 weeks.

Reductions Already Kicking In Throughout the Country

News stories describe unemployment benefits ending in November, December, and January. Here are links to just a few of the stories:

• Iowa
• Rhode Island
• Washington
• California
• New York
• Michigan

Negative Consequences If Benefits Expire

Unemployment benefits both help out-of-work people and hurt them. On the one hand, they help people with no income to survive. As we heard in the election, 23 million people lost their jobs in the last 4 years. They worked to earn the benefit. Their employers paid into the program. The people needed money to live.

Ending the benefits may make things worse. The Huffington Post published

“The looming expiration of extended unemployment insurance will cost the U.S. nearly half a million jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

A Wednesday report from the progressive D.C. think tank finds dropping the benefits would cost 400,000 jobs next year. That's because no benefits means no "multiplier effect" -- an economic boost from unemployed people spending their checks right away on necessities."

Negative Consequences If Benefits Extend

On the other hand, extending benefits allows people to put off looking for a job (even though hundreds of thousands dropped out of the job market last month). Every time the expiration deadline looms close, our office quadruples traffic of people who suddenly need to have a job because their unemployment benefits are going to expire. One article described how thousands of Californians found work almost immediately when they thought their benefits would expire.

Some unemployed people rely on unemployment checks and take a vacation to take care of the family or fix household problems.

Monday we discuss things you can do during the holidays to gain recognition at work

Lower Unemployment: People Stopped Looking

This time I rant about the deceptive unemployment figures last Friday

On Friday, December 7, 2012 the Department of Labor announced that the economy had created 146,000 jobs. They announced that the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7%, the lowest since 2008.

Unemployment Declined for the “Wrong” Reason

In the midst of headlines and hoopla of lower unemployment rates, a phrase appeared in almost every story. Let me share the phrase from several different sources (You can read the entire article by following the link):

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: “The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in November had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey”
• CNN Money: “it fell due mainly to workers dropping out of the labor force.”
• NY Times: “a significant number of workers remain discouraged, prompting them to drop out of the job hunt”
• Reuters: “was due to a decrease in the size of the labor force, a suggestion that frustrated Americans were giving up the hunt for work.”
• Christian Science Monitor: “The decline in unemployment, meanwhile, came because of what many economists call the "wrong" reason – people dropping out of the labor force. ”

Reasons for “Discouraged” and “Withdrawn” Job Seekers

The story behind the story, the unemployment rate did not fall because the economy generated so many jobs. Most were surprised that Super storm Sandy did not slow the job market as much as economists predicted. None of the stories, that I read, about the unemployment rate mentioned the 18,000 people laid off by the closure of Hostess Bakery, or the 14,000 laid off by JP Chase Bank, or the other closures that occurred in November,

People gave up and stopped looking for several reasons. They:

• Believe the want ads and employment boards accurately reflect the job market
• Doubt the president and congress can avoid taking us all off the economic cliff
• Focus on family, household, and other activities instead of hunting for a job
• Fail to impress hiring authorities before they need someone

Friday we will discuss predictions about the upcoming elimination unemployment payments

Land the Job You Love 1: Stop Saying Stupid Stuff

I hope this helps you if you are looking for a job, and by the way Merry Christmas

I help thousands of people a year find jobs. Many of them land jobs they love. Over the years, we proved that three actions can accelerate your job search: 1) Call 10 people a day, 2) Schedule 10 meetings/interviews a week, and 3) Say what will make them want to hire you. You have to get the third one right for the first two to work effectively..

“I’m looking for a job” Will Not Get You in Their Office

This story represents multiple similar situations. One of my staff worked with Paul (not his real name) for several months. Paul wants a job in retail management. He contacted 10 companies a day for 9 weeks. Not one person interviewed him. Finally, my staff asked me to meet with Paul.

I asked Paul to tell me what he said to potential employers when he met with them. His entire conversation boiled down to '”I’m looking for a job. I saw that you have a “help wanted” sign out front. May I talk to you?” I asked him “What did you tell me that would make me want to let you into my office?” He said, “I’m looking for a job and you have a help wanted sign.”

Give Them Proof of What You Did

After 8 minutes of saying “That won’t make them want to let them into their office. Try again”; he told me “As a store manager, I achieved my sales goals every month for 2 years and exceeded them by $XX 10 out of 24 months.” Dear reader, would that make you want to learn more about this man?

Business owners and managers want people who can 1) get the job they want done, 2) fit into the organization, and 3) give good return on their investment. Prove you can do that and they will let you in their office, not “I’m looking for a job.”

Wednesday we will examine how many people stopped looking for work without a job

Income Trends 6: Can People Reverse the Income Gap

This concludes our series examining economic trends widening the income gap in America

One of the issues Pulling Apart a State-by-State Analysis on Income Trends asks and answers the question “Do Low-Income Families Move Quickly up the Economic Ladder?”  The question resonates. If you cannot change the direction and reverse the gap, the world looks pretty dismal. If, however, you can move up the economic ladder then hope can stimulate change.

Temporary Low-Income Situations

The study reviews how income gaps have occurred in the last 30 years and increased significantly in the past 10 years. The researchers then give hope:

Short-term Mobility versus Long-term Mobility

• “Some families, however, have low incomes for only a few years and quickly move into the middle class.
  • For example, the parents of a young child may be working part time while finishing college. The family’s income might be very low for a few years,
  • After both parents graduate from college and obtain well paying jobs, the family’s income could increase substantially.”
• “Most low-income families have low incomes for many years.
  • In the short term, workers in the bottom fifth of the income distribution experience very little income mobility.
  • In the early 1990s, 75% of individuals who were in the bottom fifth in year one were still in the bottom fifth the next year.

Mobility Improves Somewhat Longer Period of Time

• During the 1970s-1990s, about half of the individuals who started in the bottom fifth had moved up the income ladder after ten years.
  • However, the rest of the individuals remained in the bottom fifth
  • Half of those who did move up the income ladder only rose to the second-lowest quintile
• Faster movement up the economic ladder could offset the problems of greater income inequality
• Studies show that the income mobility of black families is half that of white families

Concluding Thought

We must reverse income gaps. Paying living wages encourages people to work. Higher wages gives people hope they can improve life. They believe they can achieve the American Dream.

Monday we encourage you to stop saying stupid things when looking for a job

Income Trends 5: Impact of Education and Other Facts

This continues our series reviewing the findings of research on income inequality

In this post we will discuss the correlation between incomes and educational levels. We will also share additional facts found in the studies. The studies highlight so many statistics that you could easily miss their significance. So, let me summarize America is dividing itself from a middle-class based society into one where the richest 5% significantly out earn 80% of all other Americans.

 

Impact of Education on Income Equality

Pulling Apart a State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends says “Several factors contributed to increasing wage inequality, including long periods of high unemployment, globalization, the shrinkage of manufacturing jobs and the expansion of low-wage service jobs and immigration, as well as the lower real value of the minimum wage and fewer and weaker unions.

• Wages plummeted for workers with less than a college education, (lowest-earning 70% of the workforce) .
• More recently, even those with a college education experienced real wage declines”

Pulling Apart continues “fundamental changes in the United States economy contributed to disparities in low- and middle-income workers relative to highly skilled, highly paid workers.

• The shift from manufacturing to services led to an increase in the number of low-paying jobs and a decline in higher-paying jobs for workers with less than a college education.
• 1979-2003 manufacturing  jobs fell 25% and service jobs rose 115% in service industries (46% in retail alone).
  • Services/retail trade industries accounted for 79% of net job growth 1979-2000.
  • In 2002, the retail trades paid just 55% of manufacturing jobs.”

Other Statistics Shared by the Studies

• The U.S. currently has more income inequality than Pakistan or the Ivory Coast
• Emmanuel Saez found the top 1% captured 93% of growth in income during the first year after the recovery
• The bottom 20% lost 6% of real income in 10 years while the highest 5%r increased by 8.6%
• In the late 1970s the top 5% earned 11.7 times what the bottom fifth earned and grew to 14.1 by the mid-2000s

Friday we discuss the ability of low-income families to move quickly up the economic ladder

Income Trends 4: Causes Contributing to Income Gaps

This continues our series describing the causes and consequences of the income gap

Income gaps affect families in upper, middle, & lower incomes. Income in the top 5% rose between the late 1970s and mid-2000s by more than $100,000 (adjusting for inflation). By contrast, the largest increase in the bottom fifth was $5,620. In the 1970s incomes for the top 5% were 2.5 times the middle 20%, by the 2000s they were more than 4 times as much. Pulling Apart a State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends declares “Several factors have contributed to the large and growing income gaps in most states.”

Growth in wage inequality has been the biggest factor 

• “Wages at the bottom and middle have been stagnant or grown modestly for 30 years. 
• Wages of the very highest-paid employees have grown significantly.
• Over the last 30 years, the nation has seen
  • Increasingly long periods of high unemployment
  • More intense competition from foreign firms
  • Shift in the mix of jobs from manufacturing to services
  • Advances in technology that have changed jobs. 
  • Share of workers in unions also fell significantly.
• Today, inequality between low- and high-income households — and between middle- and high-income households — is greater than it was in the late 1970s or the late 1990s.”

Government Policies 

“Government actions — and, in some cases, inaction — have contributed to the increase in wage and income inequality in most states.  Examples include

• Deregulation and trade liberalization
• Weakening of the safety net
• Lack of effective laws concerning the right to collective bargaining
• Declining real value of the minimum wage
• Changes in federal, state, and local tax structures and benefit programs have accelerated the trend toward growing inequality.”

Expansion of investment income. 

• “Forms of income such as dividends, rent, interest, and capital gains, which primarily accrue to those at the top of the income structure, rose substantially as a share of total income during the 1990s.
• Large increase in corporate profits during the economic recovery after the 2001 recession also widened inequality by boosting investors’ incomes.”

Wednesday we review the impact of higher education on income trends and gaps

Income Trends 3: Long-Term & Short-Term 10-30 Years

This continues our review of recent studies about income gaps between rich and poor

The study described how they measured trends, “To assess how households at different income levels have fared, this report measures income inequality at four points in time: the late 1970s, the late 1990s, and the mid- and late 2000s.”

Gap Widened Significantly Since the Late 1970’s

They outlined the following nationwide trends since 1970:

• “Income gaps between the richest households and both the poorest households and middle-income households have widened significantly since the late 1970s.”
• “The incomes of the country’s richest households have climbed substantially over the past three decades”
• “But middle- and lower-income households have seen only modest increases or actual declines after adjusting for inflation.”
• “This trend is in marked contrast to the broadly shared increases in prosperity that prevailed between World War II and the 1970s.”
• “On average across the 50 states, incomes fell by close to 6 percent among the bottom fifth between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s while rising by 8.6 percent among the top fifth.”

Short-term Trends Since 1990s

They continue “In the latter half of the 1990s, a number of factors helped boost the incomes of low- and moderate- income families. Economic growth sped up, and productivity and average real wages grew more quickly.”

• “Low- and moderate-income wage earners did not fare nearly as well in the 2001-2007 expansion.”
• “Even though productivity grew more quickly during this period than in the latter 1990s, slow job creation led to stagnating or declining real wages for these workers.”
• “Even as high-income families recovered from the hit their incomes took as a result of the stock market decline and saw their incomes grow rapidly.”
• “Average household incomes fell among all income classes during the 2007-2009 recession”
• “The large capital losses associated with the stock market crash — which disproportionately affected wealthier households — drove inequality down.”
• “The economy has since begun to grow again, and while incomes at the top have begun to rebound,”
• “Incomes among poor and middle-income households have not.”

Monday we analyze causes and consequences of rising inequality

Income Trends 2: Problems from the Income Gap

This continues our series analyzing the income gap

Studies released in the last month revealed a growing gap between incomes of the average and richest Americans. Too many of the former middle class were pushed into poverty. Yet, too many people, like the frog in the pot of water slowly coming to a boil, do not recognize the major problems with the income gap.

Consequences of the Income Gap

Pulling Apart a State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends cites several challenges:

“It is a basic American belief that hard work should pay off — that individuals who contribute to the nation’s economic growth should reap the benefits of that growth. Over the past three decades, however, the benefits of economic growth have been skewed in favor of the wealthiest members of society. Rising income inequality not only raises basic issues of fairness but also adversely affects our economy and political system.

A widening gulf between the richest Americans and those at the bottom or middle of the income scale can reduce social cohesion, trust in government and other institutions, and participation in the democratic process.:

• “Discrepancies in political influence in federal, state, and local government”
• “Richest Americans have less contact with everyone else—and thus familiarity with their problems”
• “Increased disparity in the quality of schools…makes it harder for children in low-income families to acquire the skills they need to succeed”
• Richer families living in the suburbs—and sending their children to private schools—“lose sight of the need to support public schools”
• “A link between higher levels of inequality and poor schools, substandard housing, and higher levels of crime”
• “A strong connection between income inequality and social problems such as mental health, violence, drug abuse, and poor educational performance”
• “Widens the gap between housing costs and what households particularly renters with very low incomes—can afford to pay”
• “When low-wage jobs do not pay enough to lift a family our of poverty and when the incomes of the poorest families grow only slowly or not at all, policies that encourage work cannot succeed”

Friday we examine long-term and short-term income trends that created gaps

Income Trends 1: Overview

This begins a series examining several studies of income statistics in 2011

Do you feel that your income falls behind your output every month? Are you one of the millions who used to be in the middle class—but now find yourself officially listed in poverty? Recent studies indicate you are right! Income for the average American increased 2.8% to $34,053 while CEOs for S&P companies rose 13.9% to $12.94 million. In other words, income for most Americans increased $953.48. CEO incomes increased $1,790 million.

Recent Studies Confirm Increasing Income Gap

One study, Pulling Apart a State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends released November 15 jointly by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute. Their study analyzed data from the U.S. Census' Bureau’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement (formerly called the March Current Population Survey). The other release, Trends in CEO Pay, issued by the AFL-CIO but using data from Salary.com, the U.S. Departments of Labor and the Census. I acknowledge all three sources represent liberal perspectives.

Pulling Apart concludes “Over the three decades since the late 1970s, states have not experienced broadly shared growth. While overall, the economy of the United States has grown over the period, most of the benefits of that growth have accrued to families at the top of the income distribution, lower-income families and families in the middle of the income distribution have seen their income grow only slowly. This has widened the gap in income between high-income families and poor and middle-class families.”

Multiple Findings in the Research

The studies included additional insights:

• Why the income gap is a problem
• Recent trends since the 1990s
• Long-term trend: The Late 1970s to the mid 2000s
• Causes and Consequence of Rising Inequality
• The impact of high school and college education on the income gap
• How easy is it to move up to higher incomes

We will examine these topics in the next few blogs. The findings of this research affects your career and career growth.

Wednesday we explore why the income gap is a problem, not just for you, but for society

Income Trends 1: Overview

This begins a series examining several studies of income statistics in 2011

Do you feel that your income falls behind your output every month? Are you one of the millions who used to be in the middle class—but now find yourself officially listed in poverty? Recent studies indicate you are right! Income for the average American increased 2.8% to $34,053 while CEOs for S&P companies rose 13.9% to $12.94 million. In other words, income for most Americans increased $953.48. CEO incomes increased $1,790 million.

Recent Studies Confirm Increasing Income Gap

One study, Pulling Apart a State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends released November 15 jointly by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute. Their study analyzed data from the U.S. Census' Bureau’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement (formerly called the March Current Population Survey). The other release, Trends in CEO Pay, issued by the AFL-CIO but using data from Salary.com, the U.S. Departments of Labor and the Census. I acknowledge all three sources represent liberal perspectives.

Pulling Apart concludes “Over the three decades since the late 1970s, states have not experienced broadly shared growth. While overall, the economy of the United States has grown over the period, most of the benefits of that growth have accrued to families at the top of the income distribution, lower-income families and families in the middle of the income distribution have seen their income grow only slowly. This has widened the gap in income between high-income families and poor and middle-class families.”

Multiple Findings in the Research

The studies included additional insights:

• Why the income gap is a problem
• Recent trends since the 1990s
• Long-term trend: The Late 1970s to the mid 2000s
• Causes and Consequence of Rising Inequality
• The impact of high school and college education on the income gap
• How easy is it to move up to higher incomes

We will examine these topics in the next few blogs. The findings of this research affects your career and career growth.

Wednesday we explore why the income gap is a problem, not just for you, but for society