Poverty and Inequality
The lack of jobs and stagnant wages impoverished many American families. In 2005, 37 million people—12.6 percent of the population—lived in poverty. The total, including 13 million children, is an increase of more than 5 million since 2000.On the other hand, times have never been better for America’s wealthiest families, which have claimed the lion’s share of the benefits of economic growth since 2000. In 2004, the top 5 percent of families claimed 21 percent of all income, more than all the families in the bottom 40 percent. While income fell for middle-income families, it grew by more than 75 percent for families in the top 10 percent and more than doubled for families in the top one-tenth of 1 percent.
Irresponsible tax cuts sponsored by the Bush administration and passed in 2001 have only aggravated our country’s growing economic divide. The cut for the top 1 percent of America’s families was nearly five times the size of the cut for the bottom 20 percent.
The unwillingness of the Republican-dominated Congress to pass a modest increase in the minimum wage, while increasing its own pay by more than $30,000 a year, demonstrates contempt for America’s working families.
Today, America suffers the most unequal distribution of income and wealth among developed nations, and both are more unequally distributed in America today than at any time since the 1920s.
The painful truth is that for the majority of Americans, making a living by working in the richest country in the history of the planet is still a very difficult struggle.
America can, and must, do better to sustain the living standards of our country’s working families and restore the American Dream for our children and future generations.
