Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Fluctuations in the U.S. Income Distribution, 2004–2007
"Between 2004 and 2007, the (real) median household income in the United States increased 3.2 percent, as measured by data available from the Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). This statistic compares a cross-section of households in 2004 with another crosssection of households in 2007, but does not provide a picture of what happened to
the same households over time. Medians, like those available from the CPS-ASEC, can conceal fluctuations in annual household income. In order to examine changes in the annual (real) income of the same households between 2004 and 2007, this report uses the longitudinal data available from the 2004 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)(Text Box: Household Income)..."