How wealth inequality has changed in the U.S. since the Great Recession, by race, ethnicity and income
In the U.S., the racial and ethnic wealth gap has evolved differently for families at different income levels since the Great Recession.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
In the U.S., the racial and ethnic wealth gap has evolved differently for families at different income levels since the Great Recession.
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.
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.
On a global scale, the vast majority of Americans are either upper-middle income or high income. And many Americans who are classified as “poor” by the U.S. government would be middle income globally.
The share of Americans who live in middle-income households has held steady since 2010 – a flat trend that might actually be good news.
The median wealth of white households was 13 times the wealth of black households and 10 times that of Hispanic households in 2013, compared with eight and nine times, respectively, in 2010.
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