Income

Income refers to the amount of money received by an individual or company for a given time period. Income is earned as compensation for labor, services, and sale of goods and/or property. Other sources of income include investments and other sources such as welfare, disability, child support, and inheritance.

The ability of an individual to generate income depends on largely on the individual’s skills and current job market. The more skilled a worker is, the better chances that worker has of getting a job that pays well.

For countries, the income (GDP) of a nation may determine its wealth. The true state of its inhabitants, however, is determined by income inequality. Income inequality describes the extent to which income is distributed unevenly in a given area (i.e. city or country). What this means is that even though a country may have a high GDP, if a country has a very high income inequality, then only a few will be enjoying large incomes while the majority will be considered poor.