Is the US really split 99% v 1%? As poverty and inequality reach record levels, the Guardian has created an animation highlighting the gap between rich and poor in the United Status, and how this has developed over the course of many administrations.
From the Guardian blog post on the animation above:
The super rich – the top 0.01% of the population – own more of the national wealth now than at any time since 1928, just before the Great Depression. And the richest 1% of the US population? They own a third of US net worth.
There are now over 3.1m millionaires and the US has over 400 billionaires, more than any other country in the world.
One in every seven Americans lives below the poverty line – that’s a record 46.2 million people (although it might actually be higher).
• One in six Americans have no health insurance – 50 million people, a population twice the size of Texas (27m people). Of every 17 Americans, at least one will be earning below the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
• 14.5% of Americans households are defined as “food insecure”. That means for every seven households, one will have trouble putting enough food on the table
(via The Guardian)