Congressional Member’s Report Card

Congressional Member’s Report Card

WHAT? Democracy. WHO? Decides.

Wealth Inequality

INCOME & WEALTH INEQUALITY 

  • Income includes the revenue streams from wages, salaries, interest on a savings account, dividends from shares of stock, rent, and profits from selling something for more than you paid for it. Unlike wealth statistics, income figures do not include the value of homes, stock, or other possessions. Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population.
  • Wealth is equated with “net worth,” the sum total of your assets minus liabilities. Assets can include everything from an owned personal residence and cash in savings accounts to investments in stocks and bonds, real estate, and retirement accounts. Liabilities cover what a household owes: a car loan, credit card balance, student loan, mortgage, or any other bill yet to be paid.
  • In the United States, wealth inequality runs even more pronounced than income inequality.
  • Poverty Rate is the ratio of the number of people (in a given age group) whose income falls below the poverty line; taken as half the median household income of the total population. It is also available by broad age group: child poverty (0-17 years old), working-age poverty and elderly poverty (66 year-olds or more). However, two countries with the same poverty rates may differ in terms of the relative income-level of the poor.

OECD COUNTRIES - RANKING'S OF INCOME INEQUALITY

OECD COUNTRIES - RANKING'S OF POVERTY RATES