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Wealth inequality in the United States (also known as the wealth gap) refers to the unequal distribution of assets among residents of the United States. Wealth includes the values of homes, automobiles, personal valuables, businesses, savings, and investments. Just prior to President Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address, media reported that the top wealthiest 1% possess 40% of the nation’s wealth; the bottom 80% own 7%; similarly, but later, the media reported, the "richest 1 percent in the United States now own more additional income than the bottom 90 percent". The gap between the top 10% and the middle class is over 1,000%; that increases another 1000% for the top 1%. The average employee "needs to work more than a month to earn what the CEO earns in one hour." Although different from income inequality, the two are related. In ''Inequality for All''—a 2013 documentary with Robert Reich in which he argued that income inequality is the defining issue for the United States—Reich states that 95% of economic gains went to the top 1% net worth (HNWI) since 2009 when the recovery allegedly started. A 2011 study found that US citizens across the political spectrum dramatically underestimate the current US wealth inequality and would prefer a far more egalitarian distribution of wealth.〔 ((video ))〕 Wealth is usually not used for daily expenditures or factored into household budgets, but combined with income it comprises the family's total opportunity "to secure a desired stature and standard of living, or pass their class status along to one's children".〔Grusky, David B. ''Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective'', page 637. Westview Press, 2001 ISBN 0-8133-6654-2〕 Moreover, "wealth provides for both short- and long-term financial security, bestows social prestige, and contributes to political power, and can be used to produce more wealth."〔Keister, page 64〕 Hence, wealth possesses a psychological element that awards people the feeling of agency, or the ability to act. The accumulation of wealth grants more options and eliminates restrictions about how one can live life. Dennis Gilbert asserts that the standard of living of the working and middle classes is dependent upon income and wages, while the rich tend to rely on wealth, distinguishing them from the vast majority of Americans.〔Gilbert, D. (1998). ''The American Class Structure: In an Age of the Growing Inequality''. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.〕 A September 2014 study by Harvard Business School declared that the growing disparity between the very wealthy and the lower and middle classes is no longer sustainable.〔(America's wealth gap 'unsustainable,' may worsen: Harvard study ). ''Reuters,'' September 8, 2014.〕 ==Statistics== In 2007, the top 20% wealthiest possessed 80% of all financial assets.〔Hurst, page 34〕 In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%. In 2011, financial inequality was greater than inequality in total wealth, with the top 1% of the population owning 42.7%, the next 19% of Americans owning 50.3%, and the bottom 80% owning 7%.〔(Occupy Wall Street And The Rhetoric of Equality ) ''Forbes'' November 1, 2011 by Deborah L. Jacobs〕 However, after the Great Recession which started in 2007, the share of total wealth owned by the top 1% of the population grew from 34.6% to 37.1%, and that owned by the top 20% of Americans grew from 85% to 87.7%. The Great Recession also caused a drop of 36.1% in median household wealth but a drop of only 11.1% for the top 1%, further widening the gap between the top 1% and the bottom 99%.〔〔〔(Wealth, Income, and Power ) by G. William Domhoff of the UC-Santa Barbara Sociology Department〕 According to PolitiFact and others, in 2011 the 400 wealthiest Americans "have more wealth than half of all Americans combined." Inherited wealth may help explain why many Americans who have become rich may have had a "substantial head start". In September 2012, according to the Institute for Policy Studies, "over 60 percent" of the Forbes richest 400 Americans "grew up in substantial privilege". In 2013 wealth inequality in the U.S. was greater than in most developed countries other than Switzerland and Denmark. In the United States, the use of offshore holdings is exceptionally small compared to Europe, where much of the wealth of the top percentiles is kept in offshore holdings.〔Peter Baldwin (2009). The narcissism of minor differences: how America and Europe are alike. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539120-6〕 While the statistical problem is European wide, in Southern Europe statistics become even more unreliable. Less than a thousand people in Italy have declared incomes of more than 1 million euros. Former Prime Minister of Italy described tax evasion as a "national pastime".〔(Tax evasion is a national pastime afflicting southern Europe ). ''CNN''. November 02, 2011〕〔(Low-Income Italians Own An Awful Lot Of Supercars, Private Jets And Yachts ). ''Business Insider''. January 12, 2012〕 According to a 2014 Credit Suisse study, the ratio of wealth to household income is the highest it has been since the Great Depression.〔Mark Gongloff (October 14, 2014). (Key Inequality Measure The Highest Since The Great Depression ). ''The Huffington Post.'' Retrieved October 14, 2014.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wealth inequality in the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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