Cyclical and demographic influences on the distribution of income in California

The California economy is stronger than it has been in a number of years. Employment growth is solid, unemployment is low, and consumer confidence is high. Despite these strengths, research suggests that the living standards of families at many percentiles of the California income distribution remain below those of comparable families in previous expansions. In this paper, we examine how business cycle timing and changes in demographic structure have affected family income growth in California during the 1990s. We find that demographic and cyclical factors have served to temper family income growth in the state during the past decade.California ; Income