By Dale McFeatters
It's a rare government economic report that brings no comfort to either side in a presidential election campaign.
But such was the case with a U.S. Census Bureau report last week showing that from 2010 to 2011 income inequality increased 1.6 percent, the biggest one-year increase in 20 years, reflecting a long-term trend that now sees 50 percent of all income nationwide going to the top 20 percent of households.
The top 5 percent, those earning more than $186,000, did best of all, seeing their share of the national pie grow by 5 percent over the year.
The bottom one-fifth received only 3.4 percent of the national income and the middle three-fifths, roughly the middle class, getting 46.6 percent, a share that is dwindling.
The Census said that annual household income fell in 2011 for the fourth straight year, to an inflation-adjusted $50,054. The median income ― meaning half earned more, half less ― now stands 8.9 percent lower than the all-time peak of $54,932 in 1999.
The poverty rate, $23,021 for a family of four essentially held steady, falling from 15.1 percent to 15 percent, from 2010 to 2011. The rate was 12.7 percent in 2007 before the recession hit.
On a more positive note, the number of uninsured fell from 50 million to 48.6 million, thanks largely to government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. And 2012 promises to be a slightly better year as stock prices rise, home values begin to recover and the jobless figures continue their painfully slow improvement.
The White House said the new figures showed the administration was making progress in digging out of one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression and demonstrated the need for Congress to pass President Barack Obama's policies to strengthen the middle class.
Republican challenger Mitt Romney said Obama's presidency has been tough on the middle class and that "this is a president who was unable to help the very people he said he wants to champion."
Left unsaid ― although likely not for long by the Democrats ― is that Romney is one of the beneficiaries of this redistribution of income and he will be a bigger beneficiary still if his tax plan passes.
The income level of the typical U.S. family has fallen to 1995 levels in what The Wall Street Journal called "a long and pernicious slide" that will take a generation to recover.
Americans have traditionally not envied or derided the wealthy because they believed they had a real hope of joining that number. If these trends continue, that kind of tolerance of income disparities may turn into bitterness and resentment.
Dale McFeatters is an editorial writer for Scripps Howard News Service (www.scrippsnews.com).
1 | Guide to Chuseok celebrations across Korea |
![[INTERVIEW] With '30 Days,' Kang Ha-neul finds new level of comfort in acting](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/83a5770de8d8420da3634fb8b78266c1.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] ONEUS returns as 'mermaid prince'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/8cc3b8d992cd4b8bb43395b014670ca2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
