MINNEAPOLIS — The rich tend to stay rich and the poor tend to stay poor, according to new data from the Income Distributions and Dynamics in America report.
"That's been the case in the United States for some time," said Edward Goetz the director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
He said he isn't surprised that Minnesotans in particular do not tend to move to income brackets but notes that purchasing power and other factors within those categories have changed.
"The most troubling aspect is the racial and gender differences that are found in the study," said Goetz.
That data, which has been compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, shows the gender wage gap is still apparent, and there are disparities in BIPOC populations when moving through income brackets.
"We've been trying to create opportunities to kind of change that and close some of those disparity gaps," said David McGee is the executive director of Build Wealth Minnesota who says he sees that data play out everyday.
"There's some generational challenges and patterns that we've gone through," said McGee. "There's a fear factor of discrimination, or maybe even if there isn't, there's historically been so much discrimination."
He said underserved communities sometimes don't realize their worth.
"We've been basically given salaries that just go that we're willing to accept," said McGee. "And I think employers know that. But I think time is coming where that season have to change."
He says that change needs to happen now.
Both McGee and Getz agree that the solution for these gaps is to invest in helping underserved communities.
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