The Problem Of Wealth Inequality In America

Wealth inequality in America is nothing new. It has been growing more and more over the decades. The rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer. Imagine, people are having to get up at six o’clock every morning and drive back and forth across town to work at three jobs they hate. People have to work multiple jobs because most places only hire part time and pay minimum wage. Even after working sixteen hour days people are still barely able to pay bills and can only eat sparingly to get by. The wealthy are getting wealthier because the government is creating laws that allow them pocket more money. As the wealth inequality increases it puts more burden on the middle class. The wealth inequality is growing in America and it keeps

Since the minimum wage isn’t being raised, inflation has “cut the purchasing power of a minimum-wage worker’s paycheck by twenty percent” (Krugman 6). Inflation is stopping people from moving up in society because it is forcing minimum-wage workers to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. People have to live from pay check to pay check in order to pay bills and by enough groceries for the week. For example, Rebecca is working a forty hour work week earning $7.25 an hour. Before taxes she only makes $290. At the end of the month Rebecca has $1,160 gross pay. If taxes are set at fifteen percent Rebecca will only have $986 left. This is a very little amount considering all the expenses people have to pay. After bills and rent are paid for, people are left with nothing or next to nothing. Over time inflation will cause it to become harder to live because prices on everything will keep rising. When the minimum wage isn’t raised to compensate for inflation then people become stuck and are unable to move up in society because they have to pay more in order to live. If it costs more to live then minimum wage jobs become useless to move up in society because people are unable save money. Thus, minimum wage jobs will not help people move up in society and will continue to increase they wealth inequality between the rich and the

Before Bush’s tax cuts the wealthy “paid about $27 million in estate taxes and contributed 39.6 percent of his dividend income in taxes. Once Bush’s cuts go into effect, he could inherit the whole estate tax-free and a tax rate of only fifteen percent on his stock earnings” (Krugman 7). Americans who are economically sound are able to invest their money into the stock market. If someone invests in the right company, they can become pretty wealthy doing nothing. In fact, someone can live off of the interest they make from the money they invested. For example, if Bill invests $1,000,000 and is promised to receive ten percent of that money back by the end of the year, Bill can make $100,000 doing nothing. This is a lot more than what average Americans make in a few years. Most of the time when someone dies, they leave their fortune to their children. Now that child can continue to live off the stock earnings and not have to work. The Bush tax cuts allows inheritors to pay less taxes on their investments and not have to pay taxes on an estate they inherited either. When taxes are cut on the wealthy then the middle class and the poor have to make up for the difference. This is a serious problem because the wealthy are able to earn more money off their stock earnings and not have to work while the middle class workers take home less money because they are forced to pay more in