If the US had the same income distribution it had in 1979, the bottom 80 per cent of the population would have $1 trillion — or $11,000 per family — more. The top 1 per cent $1 trillion — or $750,000 — less.
The "real" (adjusted for inflation) median annual household income is around $50,000. So an extra $11,000 per household is a roughly 20% increase in wealth.
And that's just the median or "average" household, which is driven up substantially by including the ultra wealth of the top 1% in that average. A whole lot of families are only making $30,000 to $40,000 a year, and for them an extra $11,000 is instead a increase of 25% to 33%!
Put another way...
ReplyDeleteThe "real" (adjusted for inflation) median annual household income is around $50,000. So an extra $11,000 per household is a roughly 20% increase in wealth.
And that's just the median or "average" household, which is driven up substantially by including the ultra wealth of the top 1% in that average. A whole lot of families are only making $30,000 to $40,000 a year, and for them an extra $11,000 is instead a increase of 25% to 33%!