These facts about income inequality are guaranteed to boil some blood.
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Well, we knew it was bad, but we had no idea just how bad until we did some digging. We looked around for the worst of the worst and now, we bring to you these terrifying facts about the true face of income inequality to change how you look at money forever.
10. The World’s 300 Richest Have More Than The 3 Billion Poorest
At the very, very top of the wealth spectrum we see the most mind-blowing discrepancies. The best example of this is in the richest 300 people in the world, who collectively own more than the poorest 3 billion people.
9. Changes In Wages Since 1979
The share of income going to the top 1% in America has skyrocketed in the past 30 years. Wages for everyone else, on the other hand, have reached a complete plateau. This discrepancy is further brought to light by the increase in economic productivity in the same period. More money is being made on the whole, it’s just that none of it is going to the average worker.
8. 39% Of The World’s Wealth Belongs To The 1%
The distribution of the world’s wealth has always skewed towards the top, but never has that been more true than it is today. Fully 39% of the world’s wealth belongs to the 1%, and that figure is only expected to increase in the coming years.
7. The Top 1% Own 50% Of Stocks
Stock ownership is very much a wealthy person’s game. While 50% of stocks are held by people in the top 1%, the bottom 50% own just half a percent. Most of the wealth generated by the top 1% was due to stock ownership, so the fact that the world’s poorest don’t own any helps to explain the lack of substantial gains in wealth.
6. The Bottom 80% Own Just 6% Of Global Wealth
So we’ve established that the rich control more than a third of global wealth, but what about the opposite side of the spectrum? It turns out that the bottom 80% of the global population own just 6% of the world’s wealth.
5. CEO Pay vs. Average Worker Pay
CEOs take home far more than the average employee. There’s nothing inherently surprising about this. What is surprising however is just how much more they take home now compared to what they have historically. Most of us agree that a CEO should be compensated for a job well done, but just how much more than an average worker should he or she be compensated? Twenty times? One hundred times? One thousand times?
4. Ever-Increasing Income Disparities
The share of income going to the top 1% has continued to increase in the time between 1979 and the present day. While income for everyone except the top 10% has seen a plateau or even a decline, income at the top continues to shoot through the roof.
3. The Bottom 90% Own 73% of U.S. Debt
It’s hard to move upward when all of your money is tied up in debts. This is a problem that the poorest 90% of the U.S. faces, owning by far the largest amount of debt.
2. Evaporating Social Mobility
The U.S. loves to pride itself on being the country where anyone can make it. While this is still technically true, you’re a lot less likely to make it now than you ever were in American history. At best, you were 14% likely to escape the lower-to-middle classes. Today, that chance has dwindled to around 3%.
1. U.S. Leads The Charge In Income Inequality
When it comes to the most developed nations, the U.S. is home to the worst income inequality in the developed world. This is due to a number of factors, but one of the most immediate and potent is the significant reduction in taxes on the highest tax bracket.
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This article originally appeared on Ask Men.
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It applies to all of us raven, trust fund brats as well. They may be given it but they have no inherent right to it. Thats my point. We have no rights as they are known. Not to peace, we have to consciously choose that, nor pursuit of happiness. Happiness is a state of being, to be satisfied with what you have and who you are. One can never achieve happiness by having more of what you can’t obtain. We say in this country we have the right of liberty. That2 not true either because we have chained ourself to… Read more »
“They have no right as such to food they did nothing to acquire.”
I would be OK with this statement if it applies to trust fund kids.
Only kidding. Laziness and mediocrity should never be tolerated, stupid peasants.
Yes jealousy. It is a recent phenomenon that there should be this income equality and greed has been around forever. This is not new. The jealousy is that folks look around and see they don’t have the otjer stuff others have and then they’re unhappy with their lot so demand transfer from them to us. I don’t dispute the game being set up but this is also old news. Was it better when the kings just took from the peasants? The peasants never even got to play the game? This whole yhing of human rights is recent too. It comes… Read more »
Ok. And your proposal for fixing this is what? Merely tax the cap out of the rich and hand it over to the poor? Why? The basic issue is not wealth or poverty it is jealousy for the most part. Yes we have a bigger disparity but again, so what. If wewe’d stop spreading the money we do take in for every little pet project someone gets a bug up them about we’d have plenty for food and shelter. Education is already a given we’d also have sufficient for probably a pretty good Healthcare system for all. But due to… Read more »
JEALOUSY?????????????????????????????
Unfortunately it’s much more complicated than that. Jealousy? I’m sure there is but it’s also a question of unbridled greed and a sociopathic attitude of survival of the fittest. The fact of the matter is that the whole system’s been gamed in favor of the rich and powerful from Wall Street to government at all levels. The driving force behind all of this is money. Money is the dividing line for who gets justice and who doesn’t, who goes to jail and who gets a slap on the wrist. It is a cancer that eats away at human decency and… Read more »