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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: anachronist who wrote (51750)	1/27/2006 4:32:24 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

Well it would be nice to know what data set he used. I'll hunt it down later if you want a critique. The IRS and Census data confirms income mobility is largely a function of age and experience, life changes that occur over a person's lifetime. If a person's income comes mostly from government assistance (as opposed to wages), as it does in the poorest of households than you can expect to see little mobility. The benefits are handed out with some serious restrictions which provide a serious disincentive for people to ever do anything to improve their income. It always amazes me how little money is needed to convince an able bodied person to not pursue work. I have a tenant just a few years older than I am, who is now in good health, but who still receives a disability benefit of $600 a month because she had some health problems years ago which made her eligible for SSI. If she got a part time job paying 12k a year she'd do better, especially with the earned income credit, but she doesn't want to lose that pittance. It's not like she doesn't have any skills, she is a registered nurse! So she takes "off the books" low paying work like dog walking to supplement what she receives from the government. It's a very poor strategy on her part. A robust economy can only present opportunities to people, it can't compel them to avail themselves of these opportunities. People frequently choose the guaranteed poverty of a government subsidy over the unknown prospects of trying to improve their lot in the market for labor.