Income variability is difficult to quantify, but studies that attempt to measure it suggest that ups and downs in income, particularly among the poorest 10 percent of American families, started to rise in the 1970s, leveled off in the early 2000s, but then increased significantly again during the recession, according to a New York Times analysis today. A 2012 study by Daniel Sichel, an economist at Wellesley; Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office; and Karen Dynan, who now heads the Treasury Department’ Office of Economic Policy, found that “household income became noticeably more volatile between the early 1970s and the late 2000s” despite a period of increased stability throughout the economy as a whole. A more recent national survey by the Federal Reserve, based on 2013 data, suggests the problem has not only persisted as the economy recovered but may even have worsened. More than 30 percent of Americans reported spikes and dips in their incomes. Among that group, 42 percent cited an irregular work schedule; an additional 27 percent blamed a span of joblessness or seasonal work.
