Focusing on income brackets instead of actual people creates a “problem” for which government “solutions” appears necessary
More than three-quarters of working Americans whose incomes were in the bottom 20% in 1975 were also in the top 40% of income earners at some point by 1991.
Only 5% of those who were initially in the bottom quintile were still there in 1991, while 29% of those who were initially at the bottom quintile had risen to the top quintile.
Just as most Americans in statistical categories identified as “the poor” are not an enduring class there, studies in Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Greece show similar patterns of transience among those in low-income brackets …
Just over half of all Americans earning at or near the minimum wage are from 16 to 24 years of age — and of course these individuals cannot remain from 16 to 24 years of age indefinitely, though that age category can of course continue indefinitely, providing many intellectuals with data to fit their preconceptions.