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  1.                                                                                 BUSINESS, Page 75Business NotesINCOME DISTRIBUTIONTwo Worlds, Moving Apart
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  4.     The seven-year U.S. economic boom has produced great
  5. rewards, but they have not been distributed equitably. In a
  6. report issued last week, the Census Bureau found that the gap
  7. between rich and poor is widening. On the basis of a survey of
  8. 58,000 households, the bureau estimated that the poorest
  9. one-fifth of U.S. families received 4.6% of total income -- the
  10. lowest percentage since 1954. By contrast, the wealthiest
  11. one-fifth of families accounted for 44% of the income -- the
  12. highest share ever recorded.
  13.  
  14.     The number of American families living below the poverty
  15. line, currently an annual income of $12,091 for a family of
  16. four, fell last year to 13.1% of the population, from 13.4% in
  17. 1987. But that percentage is still higher than it was a decade
  18. ago, when it stood at 11.4%. In addition, earnings for full-time
  19. male workers fell 1.3% in 1988, the first decline since 1982,
  20. while wages for female workers were unchanged.
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