Economic and Social Inequality

As the United States economy began recovering from the Great Recession of 2007-2009, economic data indicated that the vast majority of all income growth was going to the richest Americans. From 2009–2012, over 90 percent of new income accrued to just the top 1 percent of income earners. As the economy recovered further, new income distribution was less lopsided, but still uneven. The top 1 percent captured over half of all income growth in the United States over the period 2009–2015. ¹