Social inequality in the US

A recent New York Times investigation shows the huge gap that has grown between rich and poor in American during the last 25 years. An examination of official income statistics, the NY Times found, showed that ‘Over all, average incomes rose 27% in real terms over the quarter-century from 1979 through 2004. But the gains were narrowly concentrated at the top and offset by losses for the bottom 60% of Americans’. In contrast to the significant gains made by the wealthiest 5%, ‘The bottom 60% of Americans, on average, made less than 95 cents in 2004 for each dollar they reported in 1979’. Even for recent years, the report found that median household income fell by 3% between 2000 and 2004.