The Facts that Define Our Grand Divides

Researchers have many different yardsticks for measuring income. But all these yardsticks show a widening gap between the rich and everyone else, especially in the United States.

Wealth inequality stats help us gauge how evenly societies distribute the wealth their economies generate. In the United States, that distribution has grown markedly top-heavy over the past four decades.

A shockingly large share of the world’s wealth now rests in the hands of a shockingly small percentage of the world’s population. Most of the world’s households hold hardly any assets at all.

Increasing evidence — from social scientists the world over — indicates that how long and well we live depends to a great degree on the level of economic inequality within our societies.

Men dominate the top of the economic summit while women are saddled with debt and poverty.

Wide racial economic gaps in the United States go hand-in-hand with extreme concentration of wealth.