U.S. Top 1% and Bottom 50% Share of National Income

U.S. Top 1% and Bottom 50% Share of National Income
U.S. Top 1% and Bottom 50% Share of National Income

Proof Point

World Inequality Report found widening income gap in the U.S. between richest 1% and poorest 50% of population between 1997 and 2016

U.S. Top 1% and Bottom 50% Share of National Income

1997 – 2016 (percentage)

Proof Point Findings

  • Income – Includes labor income or salary derived from work, dividends or earnings from stocks owned, and capital income or profits gained from business and sale of assets
  • Rich Get Richer – Share of national income of top 1% grew from 17% in 1997 to 20% in 2016, while share of bottom 50% declined from 16% in 1997 to to 13% in 2016
  • Widening Inequality – Gap between richest 1% and poorest 50% had widened from one percentage point in 1997 to seven percentage points in 2016
  • Key Drivers – Include stagnating wages or incomes, outsourcing of jobs, emergence of new generation of billionaires from tech companies, tax policies that help rich more than poor, and redistribution of new wealth to emerging markets

Accelerator

Source

Date Last Updated

November 13, 2018

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