3 DSJ Investigation: Income Inequality
DSJ INVESTIGATION: A Look at Income Inequality
MATH SKILL FOCUS: Linear Equation Models
The link below will launch an overview of the assignment in YouTube:
- DSJ Income Inequality Assignment (Getting Started) (16 minutes 03 seconds)
- This link goes over problems #1-4 related to median income by gender below. You can use this as a model for your work on the tables broken out by ethnicity.
Data Tables Represent Actual Totals of Persons Who Worked Full-Time, Year-Round in the US
- Data from: Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC)
- CPS is a joint effort between the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau
- Note: 2002 was the first year that income was reported by demographic
Consider the Data tables that follow, showing Median Personal Income in 2002, 2011, and 2021 disaggregated by gender.
| Median Personal Income | 2002 | 2011 | 2021 |
| US | $35,901 | $44,394 | $60,008 |
| Male | $40,507 | $50,316 | $63,743 |
| Female | $30,970 | $38,685 | $52,959 |
- Which demographic had the highest median income for the year? The lowest? Was it the same for each year?
- Find the percentages of female median income compared to male median income in the US
- Find a linear equation model for males and females between the years 2002 and 2011. What is the rate of change? Using this model, what do you predict the salary to be in the year 2030?
- Find a linear equation model for males and females between the years 2011 and 2021. What is the rate of change? Using this model, what do you predict the salary to be in the year 2030?
Consider the Data table that follows, showing Median Personal Income in 2002, 2011, and 2021 disaggregated by race and gender.
| Median Personal Income | 2002 | 2011 | 2021 |
| White, not Hispanic | $39,290 | $49,560 | $65,714 |
| Male | $45,153 | $55,763 | $72,655 |
| Female | $32,347 | $41,373 | $57,806 |
| Black | $30,108 | $36,718 | $50,238 |
| Male | $31,932 | $40,273 | $51,139 |
| Female | $27,625 | $35,146 | $48,179 |
| Asian | $38,210 | $50,235 | $77,065 |
| Male | $42,674 | $56,283 | $86,198 |
| Female | $31,995 | $41,411 | $68,834 |
| Hispanic | $25,127 | $31,310 | $43,872 |
| Male | $26,137 | $32,088 | $46,371 |
| Female | $22,355 | $30,102 | $40,575 |
- Which demographic had the highest median income for the year? The lowest? Was it the same for each year? Fill in the table below.
2002 2011 2021 Highest Lowest - Find the percentages of female median income compared of a male in the same demographic category for each year. Fill in the table below.
- Which group had the widest gender gap in income? Was that the same for each year?
2002 2011 2021 White Black Asian Hispanic - Calculate the Rate of Change for each demographic between the years 2002 and 2011. Use that rate of change to create a linear equation model for each demographic between the years 2002 and 2011. Then use your equation model to predict the median income in 2030. Report your answers in a table similar to the one shown below.
- Which group had the highest rate of change?
- Which group had the lowest rate of change?
Demographic Rate of Change Linear Equation Model Prediction for 2030 White, not Hispanic Male White, not Hispanic Female Black Male Black Female Asian Male Asian Female Hispanic Male Hispanic Female - Calculate the Rate of Change for each demographic between the years 2011 and 2022. Use that rate of change to create a linear equation model for each demographic between the years 2011 and 2022. Then use your equation model to predict the median income in 2030. Report your answers in a table similar to the one shown below.
- Which group had the highest rate of change?
- Which group had the lowest rate of change?
Demographic Rate of Change Linear Equation Model Prediction for 2030 White, not Hispanic Male White, not Hispanic Female Black Male Black Female Asian Male Asian Female Hispanic Male Hispanic Female - Compare the rates of change from 2002-2011 and from 2011-2022. Are the changes similar or different? How do the ethnicities compare to each other? How do the genders compare to each other?
- Consider your 2030 income predictions based on the model from 2002-2011 compared to your model from 2011-2022. Are they similar? Different? Higher? Lower? Is society doing better or worse at closing the gender gap? At closing the ethnic gap? Explain why you think so.
