Many around the world were pessimistic about inequality even before pandemic
Across 34 countries, a median of 65% said in 2019 they felt pessimistic about reducing the gap between the rich and poor in their country.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Across 34 countries, a median of 65% said in 2019 they felt pessimistic about reducing the gap between the rich and poor in their country.
Despite some ups and downs over the past several decades, today’s real average wage in the U.S. has about the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago. And most of what wage gains there have been have flowed to the highest-paid tier of workers.
The fortunes of the middle classes across Western Europe are moving in different directions. Some nations are experiencing both growing incomes and expanding middle classes, while other nations are witness to stagnant or declining incomes and shrinking middle classes, a new Pew Research Center analysis of 11 Western European countries has found. But in a few other countries studied, the middle-class shares are decreasing even as incomes overall are rising.
From 1991 to 2010, the middle class expands in France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, but, as in the United States, shrinks in Germany, Italy and Spain
The American middle class is smaller than middle classes across Western Europe, but its income is higher.
Just what is “economic inequality”? Depends on whom you ask.
As a whole, Latin America enjoyed solid economic growth in the first decade of this century, with a fall in poverty, a decrease in income inequality and a rise of its middle class.
Income inequality will be a key topic of discussion for economic leaders meeting in Davos. Pew Research Center surveys also have shown that income inequality is a global cause for concern.
The first decade of this century witnessed an historic reduction in global poverty and a near doubling of the number of people who could be considered middle income. But the emergence of a truly global middle class is still far from fruition.
The urgency expressed by Pope Francis on global poverty and inequality is grounded in harsh reality. 4.4 billion people – 71% of the global population of 6.2 billion – lived on $10 or less per day in 2011, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the most recently available data.
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