Income inequality in America at its highest level in more than 50 years, according to census report

• According to new census data, income inequality in the United States is at its highest level in more than 50 years.
• The gap between rich and poor is the widest in five states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana and New York.
• In the United States, nine states experienced a sharp increase in inequality in 2018, including in the Midwest and South.

Income inequality is worsening in the United States as the economy grows the longest in its history. New data from the US Census Bureau shows that the gap between the highest income and all others is the largest gap in at least 50 years.

For decades, the income growth of the highest-income families in the US has far outstripped that of the lowest-income households, prompting some legislators to raise taxes on the ultra-rich. The economy has grown for 123 consecutive months, or just a little over 10 years. This corresponds to the previous record expansion that lasted from March 1991 to March 2001, according to Natixis.

"When you have a system where inequality increases – and some groups are perpetually overrepresented at the bottom of the income and wealth distribution, even when they follow the usual rules for realizing the American dream – that is a recipe for a political and social division Kim Weeden, professor of sociology at Cornell, director of the Center for the Study of School Inequality.

The census tracks income inequality every year using a standard measure called the Gini coefficient (the figure is 0, indicating that a country's income is evenly distributed, up to a maximum of 1, which means that a single person collects all of the country's income.) In 2018, the Gini coefficient of the United States rose to 0.485, which is "significantly higher" than the US Gini coefficient. previous year, according to the office.

Weeden added that the latest census data does not tell the whole story, noting that wealth – which takes into account assets such as the value of a house or a stock of money. 39 shares – is even more unequal in the United States than income, which for most people comes from their wages and salaries.

"Most of the major economic decisions made by middle-class Americans – whether it's creating a new business or buying a home in a neighborhood with well-equipped schools for their children – are more closely related to wealth than to income, "she said. I said.

States with the worst inequality

In the United States, income inequality is significantly higher in five states, according to census data: California, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, and New York. This gap has been particularly visible in countries like California and New York, with their technology incubators and Wall Street billionaires, respectively, as well as in the many poor and homeless populations.

But inequality also takes root in other parts of the country. Louisiana, for example, has a Gini coefficient of 0.494, which makes it more unequal than dozens of other states. The Rationale: Previous research has shown that the incomes of the richest families in Louisiana have increased much faster than those of the poorest families.

Nine states witnessed an increase in income inequality last year, according to the census:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• California
• Kansas
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• Texas
• Virginia

Some critics argue that the new US tax code, promulgated by President Donald Trump in late 2017, aggravates the problem because the lion's share of tax breaks goes to the rich.

Meanwhile, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, both campaigning for the 2020 presidential election, presented separate heritage tax proposals. Although the details vary, they both propose to increase taxes on the assets of the ultra-rich and use the additional income to finance social programs such as education and health care.