The wealthy and the poor in U.S. society are not getting along. A new Pew Research Center survey revealed that 66% of the public believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the upper and lower classes -- an increase of 19 points since 2009.
This increase
was particularly marked among middle class Americans earning between $40,000 and
$75,000 a year, with the number growing from 47% to 71% in just two
years.
Even a majority
of Republicans and self-described conservatives say there are strong conflicts
between rich and poor. However, Republicans were the only demographic group a
majority of whom thought that the rich gained their wealth as a result of “hard
work, ambition or education” rather than “because they know the right people or
were born into wealthy families.”
The rich-poor
clash now ranks ahead of other group tension, such as immigrants vs. native born
(62%), blacks vs. whites (38%) and young vs. old (34%), according to the poll.
AllGov
The number of
Americans living in poverty in 2010 stood at 49.1 million, according to a 2011
report by the Census Bureau. Politico The official
federal poverty line is an annual income of up to $22,350 for a family of four.
However, it is calculated that, on average, families need double that amount to
pay for their basic necessities. Fox News Latino Critics say the
poverty line does not take into consideration certain factors such as rent or
the median price of a home. If it did, the percentage of Americans living under
the poverty line would raise to 30 percent. Wise Geek As of 2007, the
top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth.
The next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had
50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%. Who rules
America? Only 15% of the wealth went for the bottom 80% (wage and salary
workers). Who rules America?
ARA/KA
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