Question

what has happened to wealth inequality in the U.S. in recent years? what accounts for those changes?

Answer 1

Sol :

The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer in the U.S.. After the 2008 financial crisis recuperation the rich got richer. Between 1993 and 2019, the normal family salary/income escalated 25.7%. The top 1% of the whole population got 52% of that growth.

The wealth inequality/disparity has dramatically increased from 1989 to 2016 in US, as indicated by an ongoing analysis by the Center. In 1989, the richest 5% of families had 114 fold the amount of wealth as families in the second quintile, at the median $2.3 million contrasted with $20,300. By 2016, the top 5% held 248 fold the amount of wealth at the median.

The inequality is starkest in affluent locales for example, New York, Connecticut, California and Washington, D.C., just as in zones with widespread destitution, for example, Puerto Rico and Louisiana. Equality was most noteworthy in Utah, Alaska and Iowa. The nine states saw surge in inequality from 2017 to 2018: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia.

Income inequality in the U.S. is the highest of all the G7 countries, as indicated by information from the OECD and when the Census Bureau started considering pay disparity in 1967, the Gini index was 0.397 and in 2018, it moved to 0.485. In the recent years, normal/average wages stayed flat. That is notwithstanding an expansion in worker productivity of 15%. Corporate benefits expanded by 13% every year. The minimum wage has staggered at $7.25 for over 10 years. That is probably the most compelling reasons the gap between the rich and poor is enlarging. President Trump's tax plan has helped businesses and investors more than typical worker. This has made structutal inequality.

Americans with higher educations earn 84% more than those with just secondary school degrees. A McKinsey study found that this achievement gap has cost the U.S. economy more than all downturns since the 1970s. So basically the demand for skills has consistently expanded across developed countries and the skills are not being supplied at a rate to keep up with demand,so this is also one of the prime reasons for the changes.