The impact of the great recession on inequality is unclear. Because the crises in the housing and stock markets and mass job loss affect incomes from across the entire distribution, the overall impact on inequality is difficult to determine. Early speculation using a variety of narrow measures...

In this chapter for an international study, "The Great Recession and the Distribution of Household Income," Jeffrey Thompson and Timothy Smeeding highlight the degree to which economic and social policies, such as the federal stimulus, unemployment insurance, food stamps, and Social Security...