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Income inequality is a growing issue both in the United States and in nations around the world.And in a report released this week by the Brookings Institution shows that among the fifty largest American cities, Indianapolis was among the cities with the largest significant increase in income inequality.  Included in that group were Milwaukee, Atlanta, San Francisco. Miami and Charlotte. The revelation that income inequality is growing in Indianapolis comes just a week before Mayor Greg Ballard is expected to unveil an effort to aggressively recruit more persons earning over $50,000 yearly to move to the city.  An effort that could worsen Indianapolis’ growing income inequality. More and more the issue of income inequality is growing in the nation’s consciousness. Income inequality was a major issue in mayors races in New York City, Seattle, Boston and Minneapolis. Back in December President Barack Obama said income inequality was “the defining challenge of our time”. This week one of the nation’s leading research institutions, The Brookings Institution based in Washington, released a report on income inequality in America’s 50 largest cities. According to Brookings a city “where the rich are very rich, and the poor very poor, is likely to face many difficulties. It may struggle to maintain mixed-income school environments that produce better outcomes for low-income kids. It may have too narrow a tax base from which to sustainably raise the revenues necessary for essential city services. And it may fail to produce housing and neighborhoods accessible to middle-class workers and families, so that those who move up or down the income ladder ultimately have no choice but to move out.” Unfortunately, the Brookings study found that income inequality was growing in the City of Indianapolis.  And that the growth in income inequality was among the ten HIGHEST of the country’s fifty largest cities.  Brookings said that the ratio of income inequality in Indianapolis in the period 2007-2012 had grown by 1.7%, a substantial growth that was seventh highest of the top fifty cities. Brookings report defined the state of income inequality of American cities using “the 95/20 ratio.” This figure represents the income at which a household earns more than 95 percent of all other households, divided by the income at which a household earns more than only 20 percent of all other households. In other words, it represents the distance between a household that just cracks the top 5 percent by income, and one that just falls into the bottom 20 percent. Over the past 35 years, members of the former group have generally experienced rising incomes, while those in the latter group have seen their incomes stagnate.” In their analysis of cities, Brookings said that a city “where the rich are very rich, and the poor very poor, is likely to face many difficulties. It may struggle to maintain mixed-income school environments that produce better outcomes for low-income kids. It may have too narrow a tax base from which to sustainably raise the revenues necessary for essential city services. And it may fail to produce housing and neighborhoods accessible to middle-class workers and families, so that those who move up or down the income ladder ultimately have no choice but to move out.” Of Indianapolis’ sharp rise in the growth of income inequality, the Brookings Report cited “deepening poverty” as manufacturing job declined during the recession.  Click the Link To Read the Full Brookings Institution Report on Income Inequality in Cities and see the chart showing Indianapolis’ growing rate of income inequality.  Brookings Report on Income Inequality in US Cities