Wealth inequality in the US is at near record levelsaccording to a new study by academics. Over the past three decades, the share
of household wealth owned by the top 0.1% has increased from 7% to 22%. For the
bottom 90% of families, a combination of rising debt, the collapse of the value
of their assets during the financial crisis, and stagnant real wages have led
to the erosion of wealth. The share of wealth owned by the top 0.1% is almost
the same as the bottom 90%. The top 0.1% includes 160,000 families with total
net assets of more than $20m (£13m) in 2012.
The average wealth of the bottom 90% of families is equal to
$80,000 in 2012— the same level as in 1986. In contrast, the average wealth for
the top 1% more than tripled between 1980 and 2012.
Among the nine G20 countries with sufficient data (featured
in the graph above), the richest 1% of people (by income) have increased their
income share significantly since 1980, according to Oxfam. In Australia, for
example, the top 1% earned 4.8% of the country’s income in 1980. That had risen
to more than 9% by 2010. Oxfam says that in the time that Australia has held
the G20 presidency (between 2013 and 2014) the total wealth in the G20
increased by $17tn but the richest 1% of people in the G20 captured $6.2tn of
this wealth – 36% of the total increase.
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