The gap between the rich and the poor is steadily growing. Rich people are wealthier than ever and poorer people are broker than ever. There has been no growth in the wages of the middle class. Unless something is done, the middle class and those on the lower end of the economic scale will continue their downward spiral.
According to Edward Wolff of New York University, “the top 20 percent of wealthy individuals own about 85 percent of the wealth, while the bottom 40 percent own very near 0 percent. Many in that bottom 40 percent not only have no assets, they have negative net wealth.â€
There is a great amount of inequality in the United States. Since 1980 the rich have benefited from economic policies a whole lot more than the middle class. Our economy is consistently creating new jobs. The problem is that most of the new jobs that are created pay low wages and no retirement plans .
The United States has the third largest gap between the rich and the poor. Only Hong Kong and Singapore have larger income inequality gaps.
Gini score: 40.8
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 13,751.4
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 29.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%: 15.9
The GINI ratio is a measure of income or wealth.
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