The Rich Are Getting Richer, And The Poor… You Know The Rest

The trend has far-reaching implications, for everything from city planning and healthcare to the design and marketing of consumer products: The rich in the U.S. are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the middle class is shrinking. A recent study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation finds more evidence of the trend, this time in the measurement of household net worth. It found that the inflation-adjusted net worth for the average U.S. household declined by more than a third in the ten years from 2003 to 2013, from $87,992 to $56,335. But during the same period the net worth of the wealthiest five percent of the population increased by 14 percent.