ABSTRACT

The most important sociological analysis of the relationship between occupation, education, and income is found in the work of Otis Dudley Duncan and his students, beginning with Peter M. Blau and Otis D. Duncan, The American Occupational Structure. Although foreign examples and experiences do not provide conclusive proof of how the American population would react to different distributions of income, they provide information on the response patterns of other human beings. Relative incomes are only one measure of dispersion. Analysis of the family income distribution indicates that all income classes seem to be sharing in the fruits of economic growth. Working wives make the absolute gap between poor and middle income families larger but reduce the income gap between middle and high income families. Minority groups are participating in the same general growth in incomes as the White majority. The major source of income gains for minority groups has been geographic mobility.