I looked at the Census Bureau's "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005" report at http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p60-231.pdf That report link I sent you on page 9 says "The income and poverty estimates shown in this report are based solely on money income before taxes and do not include the value of noncash benefits such as food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, public housing, and employer-provided fringe benefits." See page 45 for male and female median income. Male is just slightly lower in 2005 than 1980 but female is much higher. To be fair to "trickle down" policies I don't think we should make the comparison until 1982 when the 1981 tax cut started having an effect. Male median income is a little higher in 2005 than in 1982 and it was a little higher in 1989, the year Reagan left office but a little lower in 1990. Overall household income is much higher in 2005 than in 1980. See graph on page 11
Cyril Morong, Ph. D. Associate Professor of Economics San Antonio College
