The Lived Experience of the Wealthy in America

The lived experience of the wealthy in America is in stark contrast with that of the nation’s less fortunate. The wealthy live among themselves and have very high incomes compared with the population at large. According to the best data available on tax trends in recent decades, between 1979 and 2000 the average after-tax income of the richest 1% of Americans increased by $576,000, nearly a 200% increase (Figures 42 and 43). Figure 42 Gain in income held by top 1%, 1979–2000 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315786742/910b0880-f116-4242-83a5-ce6f3fa7dc6c/content/fig_42_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Figure 43 Percent change in the after-tax income by quintiles https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315786742/910b0880-f116-4242-83a5-ce6f3fa7dc6c/content/fig_43_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>