The economy,
in human terms.
How economic change reaches families and communities.
Income gaps can reflect differences in earnings, work time, household composition and the way taxes and assistance are counted. Public measures capture some parts of that picture, not every resource a family uses.
Income records money received over a period; wealth measures assets minus debts at a point in time. The distinction helps explain why two households with different earnings can have very different financial cushions—and why one measure cannot stand in for the other.
National income-inequality measures describe how income is distributed across a population, not the full financial position of every household. Definitions, survey methods, benefits, inflation adjustments and the distinction between income and wealth shape what the figures mean.
Income inequality statistics summarize how income is distributed, but their meaning depends on the income definition, survey, reference period and measure. A Gini index cannot describe every point in the distribution.
