Disparities In The 1920s

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It is important to understand the origin and history of the wealth gap and the reason it is increasingly widened. The 1920s is known as the Roaring Twenties with significant economic growth, increased prosperity, and increase in the wealth gap. In the 1970s, the income gap between wealthy households and the rest of America increased. The economic slowdown had a significant effect on the middle and lower income taxpayers, while the income for the wealthy continually increased. Currently, the disparity is more apparent than ever. “The United States exhibits wider disparities of wealth between the and poor than any other major developed nation.” In the 21st century, the net worth of a majority of households have decreased, while the median net worth of the wealthier households have seen an increase. A large …show more content…

President Obama also decreased the tax cuts for high-income taxpayers in his second term. “At the top of the American economic summit, the richest of the nation’s rich now hold as large a wealth share as they did in the 1920s.” Even amongst the very wealthy, from 1982 till now, the average net worth of the 400 richest Americans went from $230 million to $5.8 billion. Even with inflation, the increase in the average is significant. Not only is the wealth gap large, but there is also a disparity in income. Since 1928, income inequality is at the highest levels its been in U.S. history. The income inequality is large, but the wealth gap is even larger. “…while the highest-earning fifth of U.S. families earned 59.1% of all income, the richest fifth held 88.9% of all wealth.” The income range is one of the major reasons for the increasing wealth gap. Three additional factors that contribute to the increasing wealth gap are fluctuations in employment, household growth, and education. Employment is always a major topic in the United States, there are many aspects for the fluctuations within employment.

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