<P> In a July 2015 op - ed article, Martin Feldstein, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, stated that the CBO found that from 1980 to 2010 real median household income rose by 15% . However, when the definition of income was expanded to include benefits and subtracted taxes, the CBO found that the median household's real income rose by 45% . Adjusting for household size, the gain increased to 53% . </P> <P> Just as higher - income groups are more likely to enjoy financial gains when economic times are good, they are also likely to suffer more significant income losses during economic downturns and recessions when they are compared to lower income groups . Higher - income groups tend to derive relatively more of their income from more volatile sources related to capital income (business income, capital gains, and dividends), as opposed to labor income (wages and salaries). For example, in 2011 the top 1% of income earners derived 37% of their income from labor income, versus 62% for the middle quintile . On the other hand, the top 1% derived 58% of their income from capital as opposed to 4% for the middle quintile . Government transfers represented only 1% of the income of the top 1% but 25% for the middle quintile; the dollar amounts of these transfers tend to rise in recessions . </P> <P> This effect occurred during the Great Recession of 2007--2009, when total income going to the bottom 99 percent of Americans declined by 11.6%, but fell by 36.3% for the top 1% . Declines were especially steep for capital gains, which fell by 75% in real (inflation - adjusted) terms between 2007 and 2009 . Other sources of capital income also fell: interest income by 40% and dividend income by 33% . Wages, the largest source of income, fell by a more modest 6% . </P> <P> The share of pretax income received by the top 1% fell from 18.7% in 2007 to 16.0% in 2008 and 13.4% in 2009, while the bottom four quintiles all had their share of pretax income increase from 2007 to 2009 . The share of aftertax income received by the top 1% income group fell from 16.7%, in 2007, to 11.5%, in 2009 . </P>

Which of the following best describes the history of income inequality in the united states