Thursday, November 15, 2012

Inequalities

A 2012 survey of "World Income Inequality" -- done by the Conference Board of Canada, a not-for-profit independent research group that specializes in analyzing economic trends -- finds that, "Of total world income, 42% goes to those who make up the richest 10% of the world’s population, while just 1% goes to those who make up the poorest 10%."

Based on a new census measure that takes into account medical costs and work-related expenses America’s poor numbered 49.7 million, a poverty rate of 16.1 percent which is higher than the record 46.2 million, or 15 percent, that the government’s official estimate reported in September.

"We’re seeing a very slow recovery, with increases in poverty among workers due to more new jobs which are low-wage,”
said Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economist who specializes in poverty.

Households living in high-poverty neighborhoods saw a 91 percent decline in their overall wealth over the course of the downturn, according to a recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Households in high-poverty neighborhoods saw their net worth drop to $3,000 in 2009 from $32,000 in 2007.  Overall, U.S. households lost 40 percent of their wealth between 2007 and 2010, according to the Federal Reserve.

The richest fifth of households  receive nearly half of all the wages paid in Australia. The poorest 20 per cent of households receives just 2.5 per cent of the nation's wages and salaries in 2009-10

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