Measuring Income Inequality

Read this article about the Lorenz Curve, which seeks to measure income inequality. Make sure to answer the "Try It" quiz questions, and check your answers.

10. Glossary

Lorenz curve:
a graph that compares the cumulative income actually received to a perfectly equal distribution of income; it shows the share of population on the horizontal axis and the cumulative percentage of total income received on the vertical axis

quintile:
dividing a group into fifths, a method economists often use to look at distribution of income