Mind the gap?
Among countless other things, our country's growing trench of income inequality is on the ballot next month – and for good reason:
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that income inequality in the United States is the highest of all the G7 nations.
- Current Population Survey data finds that race continues to play a huge role in economic inequity. The median Black household income was only 61% of the median white household income in 2018 – that's unacceptable.
- The distance between America's richest and poorest families has more than doubled from 1989 to 2016. 61% of us say there is too much economic inequality in the country today. Unsurprisingly, the views shift as you poll the upper-middle class, and "high" class groups – they're more inclined to say things are about right according to the Pew Research Center.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further illuminated these issues and cornered thousands of households into living on the edge of financial ruin.
Make no mistake: this gap isn't a bug, it's a feature. It is the result of deliberate, trickle-down policies that have decreased public investment, weakened labor rights, and slashed taxes on the rich at the expense of everyone else. I think we've seen enough of that, don't you? Sign the petition.
Jim