- The top 1% of Americans increased their
wealth by $4 trillion from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020. - That group of households together held wealth of $38.61 trillion at the end of last year.
- In contrast, the bottom 50% held $2.49 trillion, or 2.0% of household wealth.
From the end of 2019 to 2020, the top 1% of Americans added just about $4 trillion to their wealth.
According to data from the $4, the top 1% of Americans held about $34.58 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019. By the fourth quarter of 2020, they had $38.61 trillion.
They gained just about that much in 2019 too; the top 1% had $30.35 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2018, and had $34.58 trillion by the end of 2019.
Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of Americans don't even hold as much wealth in total as the top 1% gained in 2020. At the end of 2020, the bottom 50% had $2.49 trillion in total household wealth.
The bottom half increased their wealth by $0.47 trillion from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020. While that's a far cry from the gains the top 1% saw, it's still almost a 25% increase from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020.
The $4 on household wealth for different groups, including broken down by wealth percentile. The following chart highlights household wealth by wealth percentile over the past two decades:
Even before 2020, household wealth did not increase much for the bottom 50%. The bottom 50% held 3.4% of wealth in the first quarter of 2000, higher than the 2.0% they held at the end of 2020.
Inequality has worsened during the pandemic
Broadly, the pandemic has seen a $4, where higher-income Americans see their wages and jobs grow, and lower-income Americans experience the opposite. But $4 isn't a new pandemic problem - as the chart shows, vast disparities existed prior to March 2020.
But $4 have been continually hit the hardest throughout the pandemic. And post-pandemic prospects for low-wage workers are also murky: most of them may $4, and pick up new skills to stay afloat.