Inequality is up, way up
From Reuters:
The analysis found that inequality has risen not just in plutocratic hubs such as Wall Street and Silicon Valley, but also in virtually every corner of the world’s richest nation:
- Inequality has increased in 49 of 50 states since 1989.
- The poverty rate increased in 43 states, most sharply in Nevada, ravaged by the housing bust, and in Indiana, which saw a rise in low-paying jobs.
- Twenty-eight states saw all three metrics of socioeconomic well-being worsen. There, inequality and poverty rose and median income fell.
- In all 50 states, the richest 20 percent of households made far greater income gains than any other quintile – up 12 percent nationally.
- Income for the median household – in the very middle – fell in 28 states, with Michigan and Connecticut leading the way.
- The five largest increases in inequality all were in New England: Connecticut first, followed by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The decline in manufacturing jobs hit New England’s poor and middle hard, while the highly educated benefited from expansion in the biotech and finance industries.
- The only state that didn’t see a rise in inequality: Mississippi, which had an insignificant dip. The Magnolia State was one of the few to post a drop in poverty and a rise in income, but it still ranks worst in the nation on both counts.
