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The Income Divide
All men are created equal… then divided
The Ever-Widening Gap
● 65% of Americans believe the distance between wealthy and poor has increased in the last 3 years
● Only 3% of which think the widening gap is a good thing
Share of Total Annual Income:
● U.S. income inequality has not been this high since 1928
Distribution of Income:
○ 1982: top 1% received 10.8% of all pre-tax income
■ Bottom 90% received 64.7%
○ 2012: top 1% received 22.5% of all pre-tax income
■ Bottom 90% received only 49.6%
Wealth vs. Income:
○ The highest earning fifth currently earns 59.1% of all income
○ But the richest fifth holds 88.9% of all wealth
Wealth Stagnation:
○ 2/3 of children born in the top 20% will stay there
○ 1/20 Children born in the bottom 20% will climb to the top
Between 1979 and 2011, wages grew by:
○ 37% for those in the top 5%
○ 113% for those in the top 1%
○ 6% for median workers
Location, Location, Location
The Best and Worst:
○ Chance of making it to the top 20%:
○ A child born in the bottom 20% in Charlotte, NC only has a 4.4%
○ A child born in the bottom 20% in San Jose, CA has a 12.9%
● Global Status
○ The US is ranked 44th out of 86 countries in the US Palma ratio for minimum wage, far below other developed countries
Race is still a major factor
● Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity
Are we ready for change?
● As of February 24, 2014 – 32 states are considering raising minimum wage
● 58% of Americans are more likely to support politicians who want to raise minimum wage to $10.10
It’s been 50 years since Lyndon Johnson began the “War on Poverty”. Is it too late to restore the American Dream?
Sources:
http://prospect.org/article/minimum-wage-crash-course
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/03/18/10-numbers-that-explain-why-income-inequality-is-a-hot-topic/
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm
http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/minimum-wage-legislation-2014.aspx
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/07/5-facts-about-economic-inequality/
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WSJNBCpoll03052014.pdf