Even though the “Great Recession” is no longer upon us, the United States economy continues to struggle. Recent reports have shown that the country’s richest citizens are only not only getting richer, but gained during the country’s most difficult economic time in recent years. The Federal Reserve has published a report showing that from 2010 to 2013 wealthy Americans were the only ones to gain in pay, with their median income rising 2%; while the rest of the country’s income continued to decline, with the bottom 60% seeing the most substantial decrease. These findings show that the gap between the rich (the top 3%) and the poor is continuing to grow, and have also revealed that the top 3% controlled more than half of all net worth by the end of 2013, thus creating a difficult situation for those who are seeking to change their circumstances.
Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, says that these findings are a “disturbing trend” and also notes that the issue may stem from the struggling job market, globalization, and technology. Since many high skill level jobs have been replaced by technology more and more people are competing for lower level jobs, greatly affecting poor and middle class people who are reliant on wage earnings. However, those with access to assets such as homes and stocks have seen their wealth relatively stabilized throughout the last three years while those without such assets are having a more difficult time.
This news may be very disheartening, especially alongside recent news that hiring in August has reached its slowest pace since December. While previous reports showed that the unemployment rate fell by 0.1%, that was only because of the high number of people leaving the workforce and did not only reflect those who had found employment.
While there may not be too much to celebrate for those who do not fall within the country’s top 3 percentage of wealth, there is still hope as the country’s economy is in a constant state of flux. With the government and other organizations discussing plans to create more jobs optimists hope that the gap between the rich in the poor will slowly begin to lessen.
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