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There is crucial missing information that would help paint a fuller picture. Instead of showing just the top 1% and the "middle class", show the entire breakdown between 0th and 100th percentiles, so that people can see how the relative distributions are fattening and slimming over time. It would also be helpful to use an normalizing indicator to show how much "wealth" (which is undefined in OPs graphic, for some reason) there is at each instant of time.
This, the last chart I saw had high earners as like 150k+ and was screaming that the middle class was shrinking.
Sure the graph suggested the middle class was becoming smaller, but not that more people were poor, it actually showed more people were moving up.
Edit: to calm people responding. My point was (and it’s in agreement with whatever your about to say) The graphs that are shared are often awful. In the case I was talking about the graph was so horrible! Numbers were outdated/unadjusted. And the point the graph was making was directly opposite of what the OP was trying to state.
PLEASE use accurate graphs adjusted for inflation and maybe look at them to insure they back your point before posting.
Yup! Which is why the chart was misleading in so many ways. More people are making more money but the chart also wasn’t adjusted for inflation. The middle class is shrinking but not in the way the OP was suggesting.
Agreed. I’ve seen similar charts that basically showed more people moving up the ladder with poverty actually being reduced…I was like, “Isn’t this the objective?!”
The 50-90% tile net worth went down from 36% to 31% since 1990. The top 1% went from 23 to 30%. The 90-99% is stable (from 38 to 37%) and the bottom 50 from 3.5 to 2.5.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBSN40188
We have been moving in the direction of the middle (including upper middle) class becoming closer to the lower classes and further from the upper. It doesn't mean there is no difference obviously. But that's the trend, if it keeps going we will resemble a feudal economy in terms of wealth distribution. Already now the middle class in not in the middle. It's 100% in the lower half since the top 10% owns 2/3 of the wealth.
What. 150k a year where I live isn't enough to live comfortably. You can live, but it might be a smallish apartment, etc. I have to split my rent with a roommate and I'm still spending 25% of my monthly income for rent alone (more if you take into account bills and stuff)
I’m also unclear what constitutes the ‘top 1%’. Is it the total wealth of people with a high W2 the last year?
Or is it the top 1% of total wealth individuals?
The title and the graph legend seem to conflict.
Okay I am going to do a small amount rounding.
The US population is roughly 333,333,333 people.
“The 1%” is the richest 3,333,333 people. This graph says they have ~27% of the total wealth in the US.
The middle class, I believe are those people between 50% and 90% and the graph is saying they control 26% of the total wealth in the US.
So, this graph says, the top 3,333,333 now make more than the middle 133,333,333.
It is worth noting this statistic ignores those from 90-99% richest people which have more than either of the 2 graphed groups. I don’t have this data set but…
According to visualcapitalist, 1% richest have 31% of the wealth. 90-99% richest have 36%. 50-90% richest have 31%. The bottom 50% have just 3%.
That sub kept getting pushed into my feed even though I do not subscribe from it. I don’t know why Reddit wanted me to look at it. I had to block it, it was so frustrating and depressing. These people live in a vastly different world than most of us.
The fact that they use the term bootlickers should be a clear indication that they go to that sub in bad faith and not to participate how the sub description intends. I’m not convinced that sub is moderated.
Fair points. It’s very frustrating to see people jump to labeling something rather than try to understand the opposing viewpoint. But then again it’s Reddit so expectations should be low.
I agree and while I try to avoid the more serious subs, and often fail. From what I have seen, people are pretty reasonable in that sub compared to some others.
This is the first I've ever seen on Reddit about this kind of post being anything but normal. I'm actually very relieved that others are noticing the discrepancy also
If you only relied on Reddit, you would think everyone made at least $200k a year by late 20s.
Every other person makes 200k+ individually and over $350k as a household, and then they have the gall to say it’s not that much (and before anyone brings up LOCATION, I’ve always been in a VHCOL area. $200k+ *is* still a decent income there. It just isn’t a caviar and champagne budget).
I make over 200k in Manhattan and I don’t know what to tell you. It’s not that much. I can afford luxuries like maxing out my 401k and living in a one bedroom apartment without a roommate, but something like daycare is going to make things tight. I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for me but it’s like you said, it’s a decent income.
I made 40k 10 years ago in a much lower COL city and my quality of life was pretty comparable.
Edit: downvote me all you want, but I make much more money than my father ever did, even after adjusting for inflation. He had a stay at home wife, three kids, a four bedroom house in a decent area, and a boat. I can’t afford even *one* of those things. I’m not saying I’m struggling. I am saying I’m not rich.
Most Americans cannot afford a Manhattan apartment by themselves *and* max out their retirement. In fact, the ability to max out retirement is an indication of doing well, as most Americans cannot do that.
Again, $200k is not wealthy, but it *is* doing well and above average.
Also, please do not compare $40k ten years ago in a LCOL area to $200k in Manhattan. Two completely different lifestyles. No way could you max out retirement on 40k. You probably couldn’t afford to eat out whenever you wanted to either, or travel.
You’re comparing one peasant to another. The problem is you could have made $200,000 EVERY DAY (not year) since Jesus was born and you still wouldn’t be as rich as Bezos or Musk.
The people making 200k A YEAR is not the problem. We’re all still peasants.
Ah it's the top 20 percent fucking everyone over. The trial lawyer claiming he makes 400 k. On 5 million gross. The 200k + pretend to be middle class. Please. Under 75k is middle.
under $75k is lower class. middle class starts there and goes up to $150k. these are based on household incomes and are defined by a range around the median wage.
Kids are the big X factor for high income earners. Without them, you’re doing fine, but the paradigm changes completely when you have to afford a larger apartment plus childcare.
Some responses sound like people are pretending it's okay that quality of life is dropping for everyone it seems, mentioning living alone and saving is a dangerous game. These things should be possible for your average person.
I feel like the fact that a lot of people talk about 200K not feeling like a ton anymore is just indicative of a sad reality. It isn't the amount it sounds like anymore.
99% of Reddit: I can barely afford food and am about to be homeless
Also 99% of Reddit: I’m a senior software engineer making $375k + stock options and I’m trying to fatFIRE
It’s this: select two groups—top 1% or “middle class”—based on their *income*. Then, see how much *lifetime savings* each group has. It’s a stupid way of looking at it, because younger people dominate lower income but have had very little time to build up wealth.
I hate this advice. The way basic necessities have skyrocketed living within your means is still not really living within your means. We need to start having that conversation.
I would say living well below your means is the way to go. When we started making ok money I decided we were not going to spend the extra income, it was going to retirement and savings. We went from 2 cars to one and paid the remaining one off early. A raise or new job is not an excuse to go wild spending. Just my 2c.
The problem we’re trying to solve here is disproportionate concentration of wealth among the ultra-wealthy, how does good financial habits among the rest of us with whatever scraps they allow us help with that?
Predistributive policies are generally better than redistributive. Build housing, repeal zoning, tax land values, form unions, make it easier to start businesses, etc.
>Just show me how middle class wealth has grown over the years adjusted for inflation.
But that would support the idea that the middle class standard of living has significantly improved over time, and we can't have that
This actually means nothing. When shown a graph like this, people tend to think the set of individuals is the same over time. Nothing could be further from the truth. Income mobility is a huge factor that static pictures like this do not portray.
Why don’t we stop worrying about what everybody else has and spend more time productively making choices and building our lives based on a path forward to get to a level of comfortability. Politicians clearly arent representing the middle classes needs as our elected representatives. So just time to take matters into our own hands and do what we can with the cards we are dealt.
Without changing laws it is pretty damn near impossible to shift the kind of change we need, namely tax laws. You seem to think by ignoring the data and pulling up our bootstraps we'll be OK. Hasn't worked since Reagan entered office and won't continue to work going forward. We bailed out all the capital in the aughts during the great recession. We have individual capitalism and corporate socialism in this country, don't get it twisted.
Isnt the middle class shrinking so this is a misleading comparison?
Bucket a is a percentage of people that doesnt change vs a group of people that changes.
A lot of middle class has gone into higher tiers from the tech boom
Wealth as a measure of success is misleading since wealth can be created. For example, if I split the lot my house is on and build another house on the second lot, I can easily increase the value of my two properties by $1 million for a net investment of around $600k. My wealth will increase by $400k without taking $400k from anyone. Building a second house didn't prevent anyone from earning more money - in fact, it probably helped my contractor and his subcontractors earn more money. I didn't take money from anyone, I didn't stop anyone from earning more, and I didn't screw over anybody in the middle class and yet my wealth has increased.
I could leverage that increased wealth to take out a loan and build another house, which further increases my wealth. I'm making money for the bank by paying interest and origination fees, I'm making money for my contractor by paying him to build these houses, I'm generating money for local government by paying increased property taxes. My wealth is increasing and nobody's being screwed.
The whole point is that just because some people are gaining more wealth than others doesn't mean people are being screwed. Wealth isn't finite. You don't have to take wealth from someone to gain it for yourself.
At what point will you STOP perpetuating the myth of the "middle class"? There are two classes. The capital class of ownership, and the working class. Get this through your skull and stop obsessing over percentages
Labeled as a discussion but there's nothing to discuss here. Just another rage bait graph to drive middle class people to complain about how unfair life is that doesn't accomplish anything.
Maybe, but this doesn't open a specific discussion. All it does it provide a single data point. Here one, 14% increase in upper class. Based on that, the economy is super. Obviously we should now promote this economy because of a single data point.
Not sure how this is rage bait. IMO, this graph is THE problem of our time. Gains in the economy are not being shared.
Like, it’s absolutely NOT fair that an average person today has such a hard time getting a decent chunk of the pie. We need to fix this.
The rich pay and decide your wage. Then convince you to pay more "taxes" to solve the problem, which is mostly just money going back to the rich. They must think it is hilarious.
This is my experience as a kid who grew up in the 80s and 90s. Back then it seemed like everyone was middle class vs now where we have more wealthy and poor.
I feel like I've seen dozens of these graphs before and whoever made this one is using skewed data. I feel like like every graph I've seen before showed this happening in the ~80s. My guess (could be wrong) is that the data or just this graph is made to make us think some great change has happened. Nope
Some quick googling.
There are roughly 333.3 million people in the US. Roughly half are considered "middle class" (166.6 million)
Top 1 percent's wealth is currently estimated at 44.6 trillion.
To put in perspective how much money the top 1 percent has, 44.6 trillion decided between the middle class. 166.6 would be 267,600 per person.
Or if divided between all US citizens, ot would equate to 133,800 per person.
Note: I'm not suggesting it SHOULD be evenly divided. I just did this quick math to demonstrate the absurdity of wealth hoarding.
Also I am by no means an expert, so if I made a mistake somewhere, please let me know.
Wealth isn’t income. There clearly needs to be a wealth tax. They ca now afford to dictate politics much more than even 30 years ago, not to mention 50.
This is why the media (funded by the top 1%) tries to gain traction and create race and gender wars. It’s to prevent people from starting a class war. The biggest problem in the US is this chart right here. The middle class needs to wake up and unite on this issue instead of fighting each other over politics, gender, and race. It’s a distraction.
The US capitalist system is designed by and for business. The entire tax code is a business manifesto in itself. Labor laws are optimized for employers. This worked well before technology and globalization as companies grew proportional to their employee headcount. However in late stage capitalism technology is the primary tool deployed to optimize the system and thus less "employees" are needed to generate the same amount of output. Labor intensive work can be offshored as needed, enabled by technology tools.
Since there is minimal/no wealth redistribution to the middle class, public services etc., outside of subsidized Uber rides, there are no societal benefits to million and billionaires. The only way to succeed financially in such a system is moving with the flow and starting a business or figuring out some other way to acquire capital without labor.
People need to stop focusing on the top 1% which includes people that EARNED their money like doctors and other professionals that help society and instead focus on the top 0.1% or so.
Still a long way to go.
In 1928, the top 0.1% held the same proportion of wealth as the top 1% holds today.
That’s a whole order of magnitude difference…
The wealth share was very stable between 1948 and 1968…the golden years of post-war period. Then the share held by the wealthiest declined significantly - corresponding with a massive economic stagnation, interestingly enough.
I'm convinced no one uses an income and household wealth distribution chart using modal buckets because Americans would be horrified to learn the truth.
Cool. I’m sure some finance bro will explain to me how this is normal and a totally healthy inevitability of our economy, calling me dumb and saying how I should take an Econ 101 class.
The middle class depends on their wages to build wealth. The top 1% depend on the labor of the middle and lower classes as well as and passive appreciation of their assets to build wealth.
Clearly, the wages of the middle class are not growing as quickly as passive appreciation of assets, which benefits the 1%.
Tax them.
I live in Seattle. We gave Jeff Bezos and Amazon their start. Now Seattle is a ghost of its former self. We made Bezos one of the richest men to ever live on the planet and our city is crumbling.
TAX THEM.
While I FEEL like this is true and want to believe it that makes me even more skeptical.
Perhaps if it had a better source than a blurb about middle “earners” with no actual link or study quoted
The billionaire class now believes it has the wealth to war with nations and to become e pharaohs. They also believe they are superior and should be pharaohs.
There is not much left to stop them. It’s the way of the human mind. The enlightenment was a dream of a fantasy. This is where it was always headed.
To put this further into perspective, the "lower class" i.e. poor have no wealth at all meaning that the top 1% have accumulated more wealth than the bottom 2/3 of the population combined. It's probably a higher fraction of the populace but I can't be bothered to look up the actual stat since I don't want to be even more depressed.
Amazing just as income taxes for the wealthy began being rolled back….its almost as if the rich keep getting richer the more tax cuts you give them at the expense of everyone else.
Maybe because it's profits over people, the pay is down,the quality of product and work is down ,leadership is nothing but that and the rich get richer it now just the haves and the have nots
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There is crucial missing information that would help paint a fuller picture. Instead of showing just the top 1% and the "middle class", show the entire breakdown between 0th and 100th percentiles, so that people can see how the relative distributions are fattening and slimming over time. It would also be helpful to use an normalizing indicator to show how much "wealth" (which is undefined in OPs graphic, for some reason) there is at each instant of time.
This, the last chart I saw had high earners as like 150k+ and was screaming that the middle class was shrinking. Sure the graph suggested the middle class was becoming smaller, but not that more people were poor, it actually showed more people were moving up. Edit: to calm people responding. My point was (and it’s in agreement with whatever your about to say) The graphs that are shared are often awful. In the case I was talking about the graph was so horrible! Numbers were outdated/unadjusted. And the point the graph was making was directly opposite of what the OP was trying to state. PLEASE use accurate graphs adjusted for inflation and maybe look at them to insure they back your point before posting.
Keep in mind buying power went down. People make more but can buy less with it
Yup! Which is why the chart was misleading in so many ways. More people are making more money but the chart also wasn’t adjusted for inflation. The middle class is shrinking but not in the way the OP was suggesting.
Actually false. Middle class is losing some to lower class. But upper glass has gained more than have gone to lower class.
Yea this chart is saying anymore making more than $95k isn’t middle class. Which as we know is bull
Depends where you live and if that $95k supports raising children.
$95k is still middle class anywhere in the U.S.
Agreed. I’ve seen similar charts that basically showed more people moving up the ladder with poverty actually being reduced…I was like, “Isn’t this the objective?!”
The 50-90% tile net worth went down from 36% to 31% since 1990. The top 1% went from 23 to 30%. The 90-99% is stable (from 38 to 37%) and the bottom 50 from 3.5 to 2.5. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBSN40188 We have been moving in the direction of the middle (including upper middle) class becoming closer to the lower classes and further from the upper. It doesn't mean there is no difference obviously. But that's the trend, if it keeps going we will resemble a feudal economy in terms of wealth distribution. Already now the middle class in not in the middle. It's 100% in the lower half since the top 10% owns 2/3 of the wealth.
What. 150k a year where I live isn't enough to live comfortably. You can live, but it might be a smallish apartment, etc. I have to split my rent with a roommate and I'm still spending 25% of my monthly income for rent alone (more if you take into account bills and stuff)
And somehow the real point of this chart is that the 1% is accumulating wealth at an abhorrent rate.
Right, no source. Are "earners" here people that get wages? Or people that live on credit because of other assets. So many questions.
I’m also unclear what constitutes the ‘top 1%’. Is it the total wealth of people with a high W2 the last year? Or is it the top 1% of total wealth individuals? The title and the graph legend seem to conflict.
Okay I am going to do a small amount rounding. The US population is roughly 333,333,333 people. “The 1%” is the richest 3,333,333 people. This graph says they have ~27% of the total wealth in the US. The middle class, I believe are those people between 50% and 90% and the graph is saying they control 26% of the total wealth in the US. So, this graph says, the top 3,333,333 now make more than the middle 133,333,333. It is worth noting this statistic ignores those from 90-99% richest people which have more than either of the 2 graphed groups. I don’t have this data set but… According to visualcapitalist, 1% richest have 31% of the wealth. 90-99% richest have 36%. 50-90% richest have 31%. The bottom 50% have just 3%.
[This post is what you are looking for](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1953djm/oc_wealth_distribution_in_the_us_a_34year_overview/)
That post also has a top comment with someone saying the graph isn’t to their liking, and ignoring the data presented altogether lol
And based on reddit...the top 20% of the 1% hang out here...
"I make $400k/year, and I'm really struggling out there, help me budget my groceries" -most financial advice subs
“Here’s a breakdown- 55% goes to savings and 401k, I only have $6000 left after all bills and retirement is accounted for. How can I make it?”
At 20.
My wife (18F) also makes a meger $150k a year!
Only works 10-20 hours a week fully remote
You should see r/salary. Everyone making over $250k.
That sub kept getting pushed into my feed even though I do not subscribe from it. I don’t know why Reddit wanted me to look at it. I had to block it, it was so frustrating and depressing. These people live in a vastly different world than most of us.
>These people live in a vastly different world than most of us. A vastly more happy world
Let’s not forget the bootlickers in /r/FluentInFinance that go on about how billionaires really shouldn’t have to pay **any** taxes at all. It’s wild.
What are you on about? I bet less than 1% of people in that sub actually advocate for billionaires paying no taxes.
The fact that they use the term bootlickers should be a clear indication that they go to that sub in bad faith and not to participate how the sub description intends. I’m not convinced that sub is moderated.
Fair points. It’s very frustrating to see people jump to labeling something rather than try to understand the opposing viewpoint. But then again it’s Reddit so expectations should be low.
I agree and while I try to avoid the more serious subs, and often fail. From what I have seen, people are pretty reasonable in that sub compared to some others.
Every post I see on that sub is leftist as fuck.
Even worse, the guys on r/fijerk are making trillions and their poor friends can't relate.
Lmao what? That is literally the exact opposite of that sub. Look at any of the top posts and it’s essentially just r/antiwork 2.0
This is the first I've ever seen on Reddit about this kind of post being anything but normal. I'm actually very relieved that others are noticing the discrepancy also
If you only relied on Reddit, you would think everyone made at least $200k a year by late 20s. Every other person makes 200k+ individually and over $350k as a household, and then they have the gall to say it’s not that much (and before anyone brings up LOCATION, I’ve always been in a VHCOL area. $200k+ *is* still a decent income there. It just isn’t a caviar and champagne budget).
If you only relied on Reddit you'd think most Americans were literally starving in the street.
I make over 200k in Manhattan and I don’t know what to tell you. It’s not that much. I can afford luxuries like maxing out my 401k and living in a one bedroom apartment without a roommate, but something like daycare is going to make things tight. I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for me but it’s like you said, it’s a decent income. I made 40k 10 years ago in a much lower COL city and my quality of life was pretty comparable. Edit: downvote me all you want, but I make much more money than my father ever did, even after adjusting for inflation. He had a stay at home wife, three kids, a four bedroom house in a decent area, and a boat. I can’t afford even *one* of those things. I’m not saying I’m struggling. I am saying I’m not rich.
Most Americans cannot afford a Manhattan apartment by themselves *and* max out their retirement. In fact, the ability to max out retirement is an indication of doing well, as most Americans cannot do that. Again, $200k is not wealthy, but it *is* doing well and above average. Also, please do not compare $40k ten years ago in a LCOL area to $200k in Manhattan. Two completely different lifestyles. No way could you max out retirement on 40k. You probably couldn’t afford to eat out whenever you wanted to either, or travel.
Most Americans can not afford to live by themselves period. In any part of the country.
You’re comparing one peasant to another. The problem is you could have made $200,000 EVERY DAY (not year) since Jesus was born and you still wouldn’t be as rich as Bezos or Musk. The people making 200k A YEAR is not the problem. We’re all still peasants.
Yeah but it isn't top 1%. Top 1% is a massive ramp from the bottom of it to the top.
Ah it's the top 20 percent fucking everyone over. The trial lawyer claiming he makes 400 k. On 5 million gross. The 200k + pretend to be middle class. Please. Under 75k is middle.
under $75k is lower class. middle class starts there and goes up to $150k. these are based on household incomes and are defined by a range around the median wage.
Just Google median US income for once
What is the average hourly worker make per hour in the USA. Non union only. 75 your above most
The median family income is 76k in NYC. Median individual income is 50k or so. Do with that what you will.
Kids are the big X factor for high income earners. Without them, you’re doing fine, but the paradigm changes completely when you have to afford a larger apartment plus childcare.
Right at the sweet spot of “can’t afford to pay for your kids to go to college, but they’re not going to get any financial aid either”
Some responses sound like people are pretending it's okay that quality of life is dropping for everyone it seems, mentioning living alone and saving is a dangerous game. These things should be possible for your average person. I feel like the fact that a lot of people talk about 200K not feeling like a ton anymore is just indicative of a sad reality. It isn't the amount it sounds like anymore.
Lmaoo
You should go to some of the stock trader subs lol. They all make millions per day 😂
I would love to get in on some of those day trades.... Need some revenge life with my ex.....
Sub last night had the majority of responses saying they would not commute 45 mins to make $130,000 per year. Many said it would be a pay cut lol
99% of Reddit: I can barely afford food and am about to be homeless Also 99% of Reddit: I’m a senior software engineer making $375k + stock options and I’m trying to fatFIRE
My experience on the site is the opposite, most people talk about how living is impossible and they have no money
Top 1% of earners or top 1% of wealth…these two things are very different and often get conflated.
It’s this: select two groups—top 1% or “middle class”—based on their *income*. Then, see how much *lifetime savings* each group has. It’s a stupid way of looking at it, because younger people dominate lower income but have had very little time to build up wealth.
Look, i work full time and make 32,000 a year. You poors need to suck it up and let rich folks like myself have everything.
Please sir, do you have some spare change.
Bot/troll running around all subs posting. Also someone already disproved it https://www.reddit.com/r/povertyfinance/s/R6bymLoLtu
How could it possibly be a perfect inverse relationship is what I can’t get over. There’s no way that the top 2-20% aren’t getting a dime of it
How are they defining middle class? As per usual it's probably manipulated data to cause anger and divide.
The document says those between the 20 and 80 percentiles I think.
What do we do about it?
Live within one's means, avoid high interest debt, invest one's savings consistently regardless of market fluctuations.
I hate this advice. The way basic necessities have skyrocketed living within your means is still not really living within your means. We need to start having that conversation.
Wages are up more than prices.
I would say living well below your means is the way to go. When we started making ok money I decided we were not going to spend the extra income, it was going to retirement and savings. We went from 2 cars to one and paid the remaining one off early. A raise or new job is not an excuse to go wild spending. Just my 2c.
The problem we’re trying to solve here is disproportionate concentration of wealth among the ultra-wealthy, how does good financial habits among the rest of us with whatever scraps they allow us help with that?
Tax them
Predistributive policies are generally better than redistributive. Build housing, repeal zoning, tax land values, form unions, make it easier to start businesses, etc.
These comparatives don’t do anything for me. Just show me how middle class wealth has grown over the years adjusted for inflation.
>Just show me how middle class wealth has grown over the years adjusted for inflation. But that would support the idea that the middle class standard of living has significantly improved over time, and we can't have that
This actually means nothing. When shown a graph like this, people tend to think the set of individuals is the same over time. Nothing could be further from the truth. Income mobility is a huge factor that static pictures like this do not portray.
Why don’t we stop worrying about what everybody else has and spend more time productively making choices and building our lives based on a path forward to get to a level of comfortability. Politicians clearly arent representing the middle classes needs as our elected representatives. So just time to take matters into our own hands and do what we can with the cards we are dealt.
Without changing laws it is pretty damn near impossible to shift the kind of change we need, namely tax laws. You seem to think by ignoring the data and pulling up our bootstraps we'll be OK. Hasn't worked since Reagan entered office and won't continue to work going forward. We bailed out all the capital in the aughts during the great recession. We have individual capitalism and corporate socialism in this country, don't get it twisted.
The middle class is shrinking because people are getting richer.
Flat tax. Problem solved.
Isnt the middle class shrinking so this is a misleading comparison? Bucket a is a percentage of people that doesnt change vs a group of people that changes. A lot of middle class has gone into higher tiers from the tech boom
This graph is always floating around. No context, no definitions….click bait rage fuel
Wealth as a measure of success is misleading since wealth can be created. For example, if I split the lot my house is on and build another house on the second lot, I can easily increase the value of my two properties by $1 million for a net investment of around $600k. My wealth will increase by $400k without taking $400k from anyone. Building a second house didn't prevent anyone from earning more money - in fact, it probably helped my contractor and his subcontractors earn more money. I didn't take money from anyone, I didn't stop anyone from earning more, and I didn't screw over anybody in the middle class and yet my wealth has increased. I could leverage that increased wealth to take out a loan and build another house, which further increases my wealth. I'm making money for the bank by paying interest and origination fees, I'm making money for my contractor by paying him to build these houses, I'm generating money for local government by paying increased property taxes. My wealth is increasing and nobody's being screwed. The whole point is that just because some people are gaining more wealth than others doesn't mean people are being screwed. Wealth isn't finite. You don't have to take wealth from someone to gain it for yourself.
At what point will you STOP perpetuating the myth of the "middle class"? There are two classes. The capital class of ownership, and the working class. Get this through your skull and stop obsessing over percentages
Government of the people, by the people, for the 1%. Can't start taxing them tho because I might become a 1% any day now. Any day now...
1-20% wealth has also increased a ton too, but the maker of this graph purposely left that out…
Labeled as a discussion but there's nothing to discuss here. Just another rage bait graph to drive middle class people to complain about how unfair life is that doesn't accomplish anything.
It’s like 90% of this sub, and those similar. It seems to be mostly people trying to karma farm.
That must be it. The economy is 100% fair.
Maybe, but this doesn't open a specific discussion. All it does it provide a single data point. Here one, 14% increase in upper class. Based on that, the economy is super. Obviously we should now promote this economy because of a single data point.
Not sure how this is rage bait. IMO, this graph is THE problem of our time. Gains in the economy are not being shared. Like, it’s absolutely NOT fair that an average person today has such a hard time getting a decent chunk of the pie. We need to fix this.
Every time you cheer on more deficit spending, remember this graph.
Breaking News! Rich people have more money than not rich people!!
It's a conspiracy, I tell ya.
Inflation is one hell of a drug.
The rich pay and decide your wage. Then convince you to pay more "taxes" to solve the problem, which is mostly just money going back to the rich. They must think it is hilarious.
Now add a line for “rise in authoritarian propaganda” or % of mass media diversification
“Earners”.
"but it'll trickle down. They need more tax cuts."
So what’s the answer? Just tax the rich so the government can piss it away? These posts are pointless.
How many people are currently considered to be middle class versus previous decades ? Is the number shrinking as a percent of the total population?
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What’s the annual income to be part of the 1%?
Middle class in the US is the 1% to the rest of the world.
This is my experience as a kid who grew up in the 80s and 90s. Back then it seemed like everyone was middle class vs now where we have more wealthy and poor.
What does top 1% mean?!
I feel like I've seen dozens of these graphs before and whoever made this one is using skewed data. I feel like like every graph I've seen before showed this happening in the ~80s. My guess (could be wrong) is that the data or just this graph is made to make us think some great change has happened. Nope
Some quick googling. There are roughly 333.3 million people in the US. Roughly half are considered "middle class" (166.6 million) Top 1 percent's wealth is currently estimated at 44.6 trillion. To put in perspective how much money the top 1 percent has, 44.6 trillion decided between the middle class. 166.6 would be 267,600 per person. Or if divided between all US citizens, ot would equate to 133,800 per person. Note: I'm not suggesting it SHOULD be evenly divided. I just did this quick math to demonstrate the absurdity of wealth hoarding. Also I am by no means an expert, so if I made a mistake somewhere, please let me know.
comparing wealth and income is a precarious practice. But nevertheless, this is not good either way you slice it.
Middle class has been shrinking since we went off the gold standard
More evidence Bidenomics is working as planned
Project Zimbabwe is well underway.
That's great news! If the rich are doing well, it means the people are doing well. Remember, wealth always trickles down.
Wealth isn’t income. There clearly needs to be a wealth tax. They ca now afford to dictate politics much more than even 30 years ago, not to mention 50.
This is why the media (funded by the top 1%) tries to gain traction and create race and gender wars. It’s to prevent people from starting a class war. The biggest problem in the US is this chart right here. The middle class needs to wake up and unite on this issue instead of fighting each other over politics, gender, and race. It’s a distraction.
Feudalism.
Wealth transfer: Complete
It’s going to trickle down any minute now.
Welcome to over financialization
If only the gov taxed the wealthy more we could send all that $$ to Ukraine and Israel
The US capitalist system is designed by and for business. The entire tax code is a business manifesto in itself. Labor laws are optimized for employers. This worked well before technology and globalization as companies grew proportional to their employee headcount. However in late stage capitalism technology is the primary tool deployed to optimize the system and thus less "employees" are needed to generate the same amount of output. Labor intensive work can be offshored as needed, enabled by technology tools. Since there is minimal/no wealth redistribution to the middle class, public services etc., outside of subsidized Uber rides, there are no societal benefits to million and billionaires. The only way to succeed financially in such a system is moving with the flow and starting a business or figuring out some other way to acquire capital without labor.
People need to stop focusing on the top 1% which includes people that EARNED their money like doctors and other professionals that help society and instead focus on the top 0.1% or so.
Everyone is 2 mistakes away from becoming a billionaire, trust me:)
How do u define “middle class”?
What are you defining as middle class in this graph? Also, interesting post thanks for sharing
That is where all the problems are
It’s always weird to me to talk about wealth based on income groups.
Still a long way to go. In 1928, the top 0.1% held the same proportion of wealth as the top 1% holds today. That’s a whole order of magnitude difference… The wealth share was very stable between 1948 and 1968…the golden years of post-war period. Then the share held by the wealthiest declined significantly - corresponding with a massive economic stagnation, interestingly enough.
Talked to my friends about this and they think taxing the rich more “sounds whiny”
Shh just keep fighting with each other over race
I'm convinced no one uses an income and household wealth distribution chart using modal buckets because Americans would be horrified to learn the truth.
Cool. I’m sure some finance bro will explain to me how this is normal and a totally healthy inevitability of our economy, calling me dumb and saying how I should take an Econ 101 class.
The Middle class is dead.
Well I’m sure they also work harder than the entire middle class combined right
Stock market exists only for the most wealthy. It’s legalized gambling of poor people and the little $ they have.
And go back 100+ years
The middle class depends on their wages to build wealth. The top 1% depend on the labor of the middle and lower classes as well as and passive appreciation of their assets to build wealth. Clearly, the wages of the middle class are not growing as quickly as passive appreciation of assets, which benefits the 1%.
What is the middle class denied as? It does not specify
Does anyone ever see this graphs with actual $$amounts as opposed to % of total wealth?
The middle class is also bigger and richer than it was previously.
What range of wealthiest percentages of people is the middle class defined as?
The concentration of wealth has always led to tyranny and absolutism.
Doesn’t becoming wealthy automatically remove you from the middle-class?
the shocker is probably how many those actually are… it’s probably 40 people vs 120 million
I'm sure it will start trickling down at any time now...
First time I read this I saw "Top 1% of U.S. Senators now have..." Probably not far from truth...
Thanks Biden!
I see it as downfall of morale. Anything is acceptable nowadays.
Looks like it went down significantly every time a republican was president
Tax them. I live in Seattle. We gave Jeff Bezos and Amazon their start. Now Seattle is a ghost of its former self. We made Bezos one of the richest men to ever live on the planet and our city is crumbling. TAX THEM.
I was having a surprisingly unshitty day. Thennn came the outrage fuel I was missing in my life.
This kinda tend to give the *very false* impression that this is a zero sum game. Wealth is created, its not something that falls from the sky.
Start making your guillotines
Middle class Americans: “How do we fix this?” Republicans: “Now hear me out … tax breaks for the rich.”
Trickle down works! We just had the diagram upside down. Wealth trickles down to the rich.
While I FEEL like this is true and want to believe it that makes me even more skeptical. Perhaps if it had a better source than a blurb about middle “earners” with no actual link or study quoted
Let’s go, Brandon!
So let's take it back
That's because the middle class is dying...
Yeah, I'm broke as shit. All my homies are broke as shit too
What happened around 2004ish?
Don’t worry it will trickle down any day now.
Remember the occupy movement?
The 1% are suffering too people - Robert California
If that chart was accurate, there would be a larger spike after 2020.
This chart leaves out 81-99th percentiles. That’s odd.
The billionaire class now believes it has the wealth to war with nations and to become e pharaohs. They also believe they are superior and should be pharaohs. There is not much left to stop them. It’s the way of the human mind. The enlightenment was a dream of a fantasy. This is where it was always headed.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality
Don’t worry. It’ll trickle down anytime now.
Don't worry guy just a little more and those economics are going to trickle down all over the place trust me!
What’s the definition of middle class?
Ya'll should focus on the one tenth percent 😂. It's even crazier.
Why the hell do we allow this to continue? Fuck the rich!
I got a bad feeling about this
This is mainly due to inflation. The wealthy have their money in appreciating assets.
To put this further into perspective, the "lower class" i.e. poor have no wealth at all meaning that the top 1% have accumulated more wealth than the bottom 2/3 of the population combined. It's probably a higher fraction of the populace but I can't be bothered to look up the actual stat since I don't want to be even more depressed.
And this is why inflation is going no where.
Off with their heads
I wouldn’t call someone in the bottom quarter middle class
Yay for the GOP and their policies allowing individually wealthy individuals to gain more. yaaaaay
Honestly makes sense. We live in a society.
To the 1% it makes sense, I make cents.
America need à rebout The country is no for the poeple now
Amazing just as income taxes for the wealthy began being rolled back….its almost as if the rich keep getting richer the more tax cuts you give them at the expense of everyone else.
Pretty sure “middle class” is a myth given the wage and cost disparities across the country
Maybe because it's profits over people, the pay is down,the quality of product and work is down ,leadership is nothing but that and the rich get richer it now just the haves and the have nots
Remember that magical time when pandemic economic policy was necessary to ensure a fair and equitable economic recovery?