In “35 Soul-Crushing Facts about American Income Inequality”, the author, Larry Schwartz, makes it clear that the ever-increasing income and tax cuts the wealthiest Americans receive, as well as the decline in labor unions, results in the rest of the nation’s citizens to fare worse economically than those of previous generations. The writer shows that economic inequality, the difference between incomes across a population, has currently reached peak levels unprecedented since the Roaring Twenties, the period right before the Great Depression. Schwartz does an excellent job of supporting his claims by providing a vast amount of statistical evidence and historical background, which shows how dire the current situation of economic inequality is in the U.S.A. Despite the fact that the middle class has been taxed at an equal rate
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Even though the average wealth of older Americans has increased since the 1980s, “the median wealth of people under 35 has dropped 68% since 1984” (Schwartz). It is important to note that many of the inordinately moneyed come from the older generations of Americans, and continue to get wealthier. The fact that younger people have less money than the generations preceding them provides even further evidence that there is a trend of increasing income inequality which will continue in the future. Another important statistic is that even though in the late 1940s, “a child born into poverty had about a 50 percent chance of scaling the income ladder into the middle class…A child born today has about a 33 percent chance” (Schwartz). The children born today will one day be the backbone of the American workforce, and if it is increasingly more difficult for children of lower classes to surpass their current economic standpoint, then it is reasonable to expect income inequality levels to become even more
Even though the average wealth of older Americans has increased since the 1980s, “the median wealth of people under 35 has dropped 68% since 1984” (Schwartz). It is important to note that many of the inordinately moneyed come from the older generations of Americans, and continue to get wealthier. The fact that younger people have less money than the generations preceding them provides even further evidence that there is a trend of increasing income inequality which will continue in the future. Another important statistic is that even though in the late 1940s, “a child born into poverty had about a 50 percent chance of scaling the income ladder into the middle class…A child born today has about a 33 percent chance” (Schwartz). The children born today will one day be the backbone of the American workforce, and if it is increasingly more difficult for children of lower classes to surpass their current economic standpoint, then it is reasonable to expect income inequality levels to become even more