Facts on the Skewed Distribution of Wealth in America

Recent research has shown that the top one percent of Americans have been growing wealthier while the bottom has been getting poorer. The middle-class is less distinguishable from the bottom class than it was a few years ago and many from this group are slowly slipping into the lower brackets.

This survey reached the conclusion that most Americans expected wealth to be more equitably distributed than it currently is. In fact it stated that 92% of people in the United State believed that the current distribution of wealth was not fair.

The study also showed that the gap between the middle-class and the upper class has been steadily getting wider over the years. The following facts on American wealth distribution may shock you but they are true:

• 40% of American workers make less than $20,000 per annum before taxes
• 65% of American workers make less than $65,000 per annum before taxes
• The top seven percent (7%) of Americans own 65% of all the wealth of America
• Out of the total American population, 49% lives in poverty
• The total net worth of the top 1% Americans is significantly more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90%
• The combined wealth of the bottom 150 million Americans is much less than that of only 400 wealthiest Americans
• Walmart shareholders who are heirs of Sam Walton, have as much wealth as the bottom third of Americans combined
• Walmart takes 18% of all food stamp dollars through purchases at its stores using food stamps
• In corporate America, the top CEOs mave over three hundred times their averages workers
• One household out of every 5000 is on food stamps

Some of the disparities in American wealth distribution is worse than that of some third world countries. The ideal wealth distribution is very different from the actual distribution in the United States. The top 20% have more wealth than the remaining 60% of Americans combined. In fact, the top 1% has more of the country's wealth than 9 out 10 Americans believe the entire top 20% should have.

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References:

1. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph
2. http://danariely.com/2010/09/30/wealth-inequality
3. http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/10/03/334156/top-five-wealthiest-one-percent
4. http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/19/news/economy/ceo-pay/index.htm