A new report released on January 18 from the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reveals that, despite the strong economy, income disparities in most states are significantly larger in the late 1990s than they were in the 1980s. In all but four states, income disparities between high- and low-income families increased, and in 45 states, "the gap between the average incomes of middle-income families and of the richest 20 percent of families expanded between the late 1970s and the late 1990s." For the US as a whole, the average income of families in the top 20 percent was more than ten times that of the poorest 20 percent of families. Users can read the full text of this important report by section or in its entirety in .pdf format. A press release and state fact sheets are also provided.