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21 Alarming Charts On Income Inequality That Everyone Should Seehttps://www.businessinsider.in/21-alarming-charts-on-income-inequality-that-everyone-should-see/the-top-0-01-of-americans-claim-an-incredible-5-5-of-income-up-from-1-at-mid-century-/slidelist/34120467.cms2017-08-19T12:56:17+05:30

21 Alarming Charts On Income Inequality That Everyone Should See

Aug 19, 2017, 12:56 IST

The top 0.01% of Americans claim an incredible 5.5% of income, up from 1% at mid-century.

The top 0.01% holds a near-record 11% of the wealth — and they're leaving the rest of the rich behind.

Capital is becoming more valuable around the world, helping the rich get richer and richer — and this trend could get much worse.

Meanwhile, America's bottom 90% is falling deeper and deeper into debt.

It doesn't help in America that top marginal tax rates are well below historical average.

Median household income has fallen around 7% since the recession, despite the stock market roaring back to new highs.

Forget the American Dream: Poor people find it harder than ever to rise to the upper middle class.

While productivity keeps rising, inflation-adjusted wages have been flat for fifty years.

Wages as a percent of the economy have dropped to an all-time low ...

... while corporate profits and profit margins are at an all-time high.

The average CEO earns as much as 331 workers, up from a 24:1 ratio in the sixties.

Fewer Americans are employed than at any time in the past three decades.

It's not just America: The super rich are claiming a soaring share of global wealth.

But the top 0.1% in America are doing better than their peers in other first-world countries.

America redistributes wealth far less than other developed countries.

We won't even get into racial inequality, except to note that the average white American is worth 15 times as much as the average black American.

What are the consequences of inequality? Let's start with higher infant mortality ...

... lower life expectancy ...

... and many other health and social problems, including higher rates of homicide, imprisonment, teenage birth, obesity, addiction, and more.

Rising inequality is also tied to political polarization, which can lead to inefficiency and conflict.

Actual wealth distribution in America is much more unbalanced than people realize — and much worse still than they would like.

Who's getting left behind?

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