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NEWS ABOUT: income disparity

Income of Top 1% Shot Up 275% Since 1979: CBO

And in the process more than doubled their share of all income

(Newser) - The top 1% of income earners saw their after-tax income shoot up a whopping 275% between 1979 and 2007, and in the process more than doubled their share of all income, jumping from 8% to 17%, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office . The rest of the... More »

Paycheck Data Dismal in 2010

...Unless you were a millionaire

(Newser) - The Social Security Administration quietly released payroll data for 2010 yesterday, and they were “in a word, awful,” writes David Cay Johnston at Reuters —assuming you’re not a millionaire, that is. The number of people making at least $1 million rose by 20%, jumping from 78,... More »

One in 3 Falling Out of Middle Class

New study shows downward mobility is rampant

(Newser) - Downward mobility is rampant in the US, with a third of Americans who grew up in the middle class falling out of it as adults, according to a new Pew Study ( pdf ). “A middle-class upbringing does not guarantee the same status over the course of a lifetime,... More »

Millionaires Have 39% of the World’s Money

Less than 1% of the world's population controls almost half of the money

(Newser) - If you're wondering where all your money has gone, odds are a millionaire added it to his or her pile. Although millionaires make up just 0.9% of the world's population, they control 39% of its wealth—up 2% since 2009—according to a report by Boston Consulting... More »

US Is Worse Than Banana Republics

Yet somehow we need to give the rich tax breaks?

(Newser) - It’s tempting to say that the US now has a banana republic-level income inequality, but that’s not fair—to banana republics. “The truth is that Latin America has matured and become more equal,” writes Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times , even as the US has... More »

Census Finds Record Gap Between Rich and Poor

Young people hit hardest

(AP) - The income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last year to its widest amount on record as young adults and children in particular struggled to stay afloat in the recession. The top-earning 20% of Americans—those making more than $100,000 each year—received 49.4% of all... More »

Pundits' Misleading Stat: '47% Owe No Taxes'

It refers only to federal income taxes

(Newser) - One of the popular talking points being thrown around is that 47% of households owe no income tax in 2009, writes David Leonhardt. It's usually followed by an argument that the wealthy pay an unfair proportion of taxes while many Americans skate free. "Neither one of those ideas is... More »

With Health Bill, Obama Ends the 'Age of Reagan'

Marks biggest assault on wealth inequality since the '80s

(Newser) - The health care reform bill was the government’s biggest attack on economic inequality in more than 30 years, a period of time that’s seen government policy and market forces consistently push the opposite direction. That’s why Barack Obama fought so hard for it, writes David Leonhardt for... More »

One in 5 Women Out-Earn Their Husbands

Pew study finds marriage 'now a better deal for men'

(Newser) - Men who tie the knot have been getting an increasingly sweeter deal as women become better-paid and better-educated, according to Pew Research. Researchers—who dub the trend the "rise of wives"—say that the percentage of marriages in which the woman is the higher-earning partner has exploded from... More »

America's Greediest People

Larry Ellison heads up a list full of no-good rich folks

(Newser) - These days, it’s easy to fill up a “greediest Americans” list. Just ask TooMuch.org , a site devoted entirely to “excess and inequality.” “We could fill an entire top 10 just with bankers from Goldman Sachs,” it boasts. The list:
  1. Larry Ellison: The really
... More »

Women's Workplace Gains Likely to Outlast Recession

Long-term employment stats bound to reflect better academic performance

(Newser) - The recession has been kinder to women than to men, and the reason is well documented: the most affected industries are those with lots of male employees, like manufacturing and construction. But another factor is driving a more permanent change, writes Greg Burns: Overall, women earn more college degrees. By... More »

Young Grow Poorer While Old Get Richer

Recession socks Americans born after 1955

(Newser) - Young and middle-aged people, particularly men, saw their incomes plummet from 2000 to 2008, leaving many age groups at 30-year nadirs, new Census data show. The recession has exacerbated the problem, widening the gap between young and old at an unprecedented rate, USA Today reports. Worst hit were those in... More »

For Once, Super-Rich Not Getting Richer

Recession halts 30-year rise of the super-wealthy

(Newser) - Since the 1970s, the rich have been getting richer with stunning consistency, but now, thanks to the recession, that decades-long run has hit a wall, the New York Times reports. Wall Street pay is indeed returning to normal, but for every investment banker who’s benefiting from that, several more... More »

Robin Hood, Beware: The Rich Get Poorer

Financial crisis hits US wealthiest hard, reduces inequalities

(Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain have sparred over the country’s income gap, but that gap is shrinking rapidly, Robert Frank writes in the Wall Street Journal. Financial crises always knock the rich down a peg, and this one is no different. One economist predicts the top 1%’s share... More »

Ivy Leaguers Start Ahead, Stay Ahead

Take that English degree to Wall Street and you'll still cash in

(Newser) - How much you make correlates with where you went to school, a new study finds. Bachelor’s degree holders’ salaries grow at the same rate over the first decade of their careers regardless of the school, the Wall Street Journal reports, but Ivy League graduates’ median starting salary is 32%... More »

How the Middle Class Was Systematically Betrayed

Our 'land of equality' is now a 'bankers' utopia'

(Newser) - Thomas Frank tackles the decline of the American middle class in an outraged op ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal. He confesses fascination with "the mechanics of this huge social reconfiguration," which has, over several decades, shunted the nation's wealth into fewer and fewer hands, until the... More »

Tax Harvard to Help Fund Poorer Colleges

Banker urges taxing investment earnings to close education gap

(Newser) - The growing disparity between the richest universities and their more modest counterparts is not as often discussed as other aspects of America's wealth gap, prominent investment banker Herbert Allen writes in the New York Times—but it should be. The nation’s wealthiest colleges have endowments topping $1 million per... More »

Rich Getting Even Richer, Even Faster

Gap between super wealthy and rest of US grows even bigger

(Newser) - America’s economy is great, the New York Times says, if you’re already super rich. Between 2003 and 2005, America’s top 1% saw a meteoric 42.6% jump in income. The rest of us? Well, the middle fifth earned an extra 4.3%, and the bottom fifth just... More »

A New High: 1% of Rich Have 21.1% of Riches

Wealthiest hundredth raked in one-fifth of income: IRS

(Newser) - The wealthiest 1% of Americans hit a 21.1% record share of the nation's income, according to IRS figures released yesterday. While the data don't point to a specific cause, the Journal cites the heretofore booming stock market. The previous peak of 20.8% was in 2000, also at the... More »

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