Regarding earnings, when I think about low income, I think of three components or three background areas. One is what is going on in the labour market. Second is what the state is doing to the tax transfer system. Third is demographic change, which also can affect low income. Of those three, probably what's happening in the labour market has been the most important. It is true that although GDP has been rising--we've been in an economic boom for a while--earnings at the bottom end of the earnings distribution really haven't risen. If anything, they've probably fallen a little bit. That's the real puzzle. That has a lot to do with why we haven't seen the low-income rate fall. Our low-income rate is still where it was 20 years ago. That's really what's happening at the bottom of the earnings distribution. It's what's happening in the labour market with respect to earnings. That's a big part of the story.
On April 10th, 2008. See this statement in context.