income gap

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Commuters' Study Reveals an Advantage for the Rich

Study finds that wealthy people get to sleep later

(Newser) - Chalk up one more health advantage for the rich over the poor: more sleep. Researchers in Colombia crunched data about the movement of residents in Medellin and Manizales and found some interesting patterns, they report in Royal Society Open Science . For instance, rich and poor people traveled longer distances to...

Answer to a Whole Nation's Poverty? Its Richest Person

Top billionaire could end poverty in 3 countries, make inroads in others

(Newser) - As the world's richest and most powerful people leave the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, there was growing discussion about the impact the world's wealthiest could have, single-handedly, on the poverty rates of entire nations. One analyst at the Brookings Institution crunched some numbers and found that,...

Richest Americans Have Own 'Private Tax System'
Richest Americans Have
Own 'Private Tax System'
investigation
Dec 30, 2015 1:38 PM CST

Richest Americans Have Own 'Private Tax System'

NYT investigation: Think of it as the 'income defense industry'

(Newser) - Much has been written about the growing gap between the rich and poor, but an investigative piece by the New York Times provides insight into one key element of the debate: how the very rich avoid taxes. The idea that billionaires pay lawyers to look for loopholes may seem obvious...

1% Even Richer Than Thought
 1% Even Richer Than Thought
STUDY SAYS
Jul 16, 2014 7:40 AM CDT

1% Even Richer Than Thought

Richest Americans control up to 37% of wealth

(Newser) - Just how rich are the super-rich? Apparently a lot of them are too rich to bother responding to surveys asking them how rich they are, and economist Philip Vermeulen believes that has led to their wealth being underestimated. In a new analysis, the senior European Central Bank economist estimates that...

85 Richest People Have as Much Money as Poorest Half
85 Richest People Have as Much Money as Poorest Half
NEW REPORT
Jan 20, 2014 7:23 AM CST

85 Richest People Have as Much Money as Poorest Half

And wealthiest 1% of population has 46% of world's wealth: Oxfam report

(Newser) - Here's a shocking detail from a new Oxfam report: The poorest half of the entire global population, comprised of 3.5 billion people, has as much money as the wealthiest 85 people around the world. How much is that, exactly? More than $1.6 trillion. And if you look...

Top 5 Richest, Poorest US Cities

San Jose and Brownsville, Texas, lead their respective lists

(Newser) - The cities at the opposite ends of America's economic spectrum are San Jose, thriving in Silicon Valley, and Brownsville, Texas, where two of every five residents live in poverty, reports 24/7 Wall St . A look at the richest and poorest metro areas, based on Census figures, starting with the...

Language Gap in Rich, Poor Kids Begins Earlier Than Thought

Stanford study finds differences at 18 months

(Newser) - A Stanford study finds that kids from low-income families begin falling behind their richer peers in language development earlier than thought, reports the New York Times . The study found clear differences at 18 months, with kids in the higher-income families able to identify simple words a lot faster. (A previous...

The Economy Is Just Like a Plane: Coach Sucks
The Economy Is Just Like
a Plane: Coach Sucks
OPINION
Aug 7, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

The Economy Is Just Like a Plane: Coach Sucks

And first class is constantly getting nicer

(Newser) - Take a good look at first class on the way to your cramped coach seat the next time you take a flight, because "airline seating may be the best concrete expression of what's happened to the economy in recent decades," writes Harold Meyerson at the Washington Post...

Rich? You'll Probably Live Longer, Too
 Rich? You'll Probably 
 Live Longer, Too 
studies show
Mar 11, 2013 2:40 PM CDT

Rich? You'll Probably Live Longer, Too

Studies show link between life expectancy, income gap

(Newser) - Research shows a disturbing trend in the US: As life expectancy goes up, the life expectancy gap between rich and poor is widening. While US life expectancy hit 78.5 years in 2009, most gains went to those whose income is the highest. To illustrate the trend, the Washington Post...

2012's Forgotten Issue: Stagnant Income
 2012's Forgotten Issue: 
 Stagnant Income 
analysis
Oct 24, 2012 11:52 AM CDT

2012's Forgotten Issue: Stagnant Income

Candidates largely ignore causes of decade-long income slump

(Newser) - The economy has taken center stage in the race for the White House, but amid the chatter about government spending and taxes, the New York Times thinks one subject that hits close to home for many poor and middle-class Americans has been largely left out: the long-term stagnation of income....

Rich, Poor Living Farther and Farther Apart—Literally

Census data reveal that income inequality driving demographic shift

(Newser) - Rich Americans and poor Americans are increasingly segregating themselves into separate neighborhoods, as the gap between America's haves and have-nots widens, a Pew study of recent census data reveals. From 1980 to 2010, the number of high-income households located in affluent neighborhoods doubled to 18%, the Washington Post reports,...

Marriage Rates Stable —for the Rich

Lower-income earners see much higher decline over decades

(Newser) - The institution of marriage is doing fine in America—for the wealthy, anyway. Marriage rates over the past 40 years have declined only a little for the top tenth of male earners, from 95% in 1970 to 83% today, according to a new report from the Brookings Institute. But for...

Americans See 'Strong' Class Warfare
 Americans See 
 'Strong' Class Warfare 
POLL SAYS
Jan 12, 2012 9:31 AM CST

Americans See 'Strong' Class Warfare

It now out-ranks racial, generational conflict

(Newser) - The number of Americans who think the rich and poor are in serious conflict has exploded over the past two years, with a whopping 67% now rating conflicts between the classes as either "strong" or "very strong," according to a new Pew Research poll —a 19-point...

'Movin' On Up' in America? Not So Much, These Days

Studies reveal large mobility gap

(Newser) - The idea of "movin' on up" has long been an integral part of the American Dream, but a discouraging amount of research shows it's not as easy as it once was to elevate oneself from humble beginnings. In fact, America has less economic mobility than much of Western...

Congress Is Increasingly Richer Than You

Figures show widening wealth gap, and with it polarization

(Newser) - Before he ran for Congress in 1974, Gary Myers was a steel mill worker. His campaign set him back $33,000. Today, Myers’ seat is occupied by Mike Kelly, a wealthy car dealer who married into the Phillips oil fortune. His campaign cost $1.2 million. That contrast is emblematic...

Income Gap Widening Between Blacks, Whites

And that's particularly true in cities as blacks migrate

(Newser) - The income gap between black people and white people is growing, a divide that's most stark in cities, which affluent blacks are fleeing for the suburbs, according to new census data. The average white person earned 1.7 times more than the average black person last year, the widest...

We Are the 99%? Try 99.9%

 We Are the 99%? Try 99.9% 
Paul Krugman
Nov 25, 2011 9:30 AM CST

We Are the 99%? Try 99.9%

GOP policies really favor richest thousandth of population: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - Occupy Wall Street’s “We are the 99%” slogan is a pretty good one, but if anything it “aims too low,” writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . “A large fraction of the top 1%’s gains have actually gone to an even smaller group,...

Middle-Class Neighborhoods Dying Off

Stanford study says numbers have dropped sharply since 1970

(Newser) - A major new study from Stanford finds that America's middle class is shrinking in a big way, reports the New York Times . The researchers looked at 117 of the nation's biggest metropolitan areas and discovered that 44% of families live in areas defined as middle class, down from...

Older Americans Have 47 Times More Wealth Than the Young

Gap has widened in past 25 years: Pew

(Newser) - A new analysis by the Pew Research Center shows a widening age gap when it comes to wealth: In 2009, a typical household headed by an adult aged 65 or older had 47 times more net wealth than its counterpart headed by someone younger than 35. That’s a median...

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...

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