Wealth Gap Widens for Blacks, Latinos
The median net worth of white households is 20 times greater than that of black households and 18 times greater than that of Latino households, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, which attributes the increase to the decline in the housing market and the ensuing recession. From 2005 to 2009, inflation-adjusted median wealth fell by 66 percent among Latino households and 53 percent among black households, compared with just 16 percent among white households. From Pew:
As a result of these declines, the typical black household had just $5,677 in wealth (assets minus debts) in 2009, the typical Hispanic household had $6,325 in wealth and the typical white household had $113,149.
Moreover, about a third of black (35 percent) and Hispanic (3 percent) households had zero or negative net worth in 2009, compared with 15 percent of white households. In 2005, the comparable shares had been 29 percent for blacks, 23 percent for Hispanics and 11 percent for whites.
Taxes Go Down for the Wealthy, Income Gap Worsens
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Just in time for April 15, new data shows that since 1979, the nation’s overall average tax rate—the share of income paid in taxes—has fallen slightly, but for those at the top of the earnings ladder, this share has fallen dramatically. The analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) also points out:
At the same time that the tax burden has shifted away from the wealthy, this same top income group has enjoyed massively disproportionate income gains. Between 1992 and 2007, a time in which income for the average household and top one percent grew 13 percent and 123 percent, respectively, the income for the top 400 households grew fully 399 percent.
U.S. Income Gap Bad, Wealth Gap Even Worse
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The richest 5 percent in the United States now own 65 percent of the nation’s wealth—making the wealth gap even more unequal here than the already gaping income gap. A new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) cites foreclosures and falling housing values as contributing to the devastation of the net worth—the wealth—of millions of U.S. households.
Wealth, or net worth, refers to an individual’s or a family’s total assets, such as bank account balances, savings and real estate, minus total liabilities, such as mortgages, debt and outstanding medical bills. As EPI points out, “along with wages and income, wealth is another key measure of economic security and well-being since it strengthens a family’s ability to withstand job loss or other economic distress.”
As Les Leopold points out, recent debates over workers’ wages have missed the big picture.
Do public-sector workers earn more than private-sector workers? Who cares? This boneheaded question has us fighting over the crumbs. (And the answer is no—all credible studies show that when you account for educational levels, the total compensation packages are about the same.)
The real question is: Why have most workers seen their standard of living stall over the last generation?
U.S. Income Inequality Grows—Public Thinks It’s Not So Big
While the 1930s Depression raged and breadlines stretched for blocks in city after city, a poll found that the majority of the American public nevertheless identified themselves as “middle class.”
Uh, no.
But the myth of income equality, or near equality, persists even today.
This morning, the U.S. Census Bureau released data showing the income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last year to its widest amount on record. The top-earning 20 percent received more than 49 percent of all income generated in the country in 2009. The income gap has nearly doubled since 1968 and the United States now has the greatest income disparity among Western industrialized nations.
It’s April 15: Time to Tax Wall Street. We Need Good Jobs Now
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Allison Fletcher Acosta, Communications & Technology coordinator at Jobs with Justice, is joining activists who are calling on Congress today to tax Wall Street and make it pay for jobs for the rest of us.
Today, Jobs with Justice activists and allies are protesting at banks and post offices in 40 cities across the country to highlight the need for good jobs—and a way to pay for them. Activists will hold rallies calling on Congress to create millions of good new jobs, tax the Wall Street speculators who broke our economy, reign in the Big Banks and protect consumers. We are demonstrating support for legislation like the Local Jobs for America Act (H.R. 4812), which will create 1 million jobs, and for the Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act (H.R. 4191).
A tax on the speculators of the Wall Street casino could put 3 million people to work fixing our infrastructure, teaching our children, making our factories more sustainable and improving our public services.
U.S. Income Equality May Equal Mexico’s by 2043
Two reports out this week offer a telling glimpse into the direction of the nation.
- The number of U.S. households with a net worth of at least $1 million jumped 16 percent last year after dipping sharply during the financial crisis, according to a new report. The Spectrem Group study also found “ultra-high net worth families—those with at least $5 million—grew 17 percent last year to 980,000.
- Some 6 percent of all workers were living in poverty in 2008, up from 5.1 percent in 2007—the highest proportion since 6.2 percent in 1994, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2008, some 8.9 million adults were among the “working poor”—1.4 million more than in 2007.
