Latest news with #incomeinequality
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Bernie Sanders says one thing lost Kamala Harris the election
US Senator Bernie Sanders has attributed Kamala Harris 's presidential election loss to what he sees as her campaign's focus on billionaires rather than addressing the needs of the working class. Mr Sanders criticised Ms Harris's campaign for not prioritising issues such as raising the minimum wage, healthcare reform, and housing, and for associating with figures like Liz Cheney and Mark Cuban. Mr Sanders believes Ms Harris could have won the election if she had focussed on the needs of working-class Americans. Mr Sanders highlighted the growing income and wealth inequality in the U.S. as a core issue that the Democratic Party needs to address. He said that President Donald Trump 's victory was due to the Democratic Party's failure to respond to the economic struggles of average Americans, who feel Washington D.C. is not addressing their needs.
Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
How SALT Pits the Rich vs. Poor in New York
In your editorial 'The GOP's SALT Deal Folly' (May 22), you rightly criticize House Republicans from New York for securing an increase in the state-and-local tax deduction. The giveaway, you note, will subsidize 'profligate Democratic-run states.' But SALT isn't merely a red vs. blue issue; it also pits the poor against the rich. New York is a perfect example. Internal Revenue Service data for 2022 shows that New York is home to five of the top 50 congressional districts with the most taxpayers affected by SALT. Rep. Mike Lawler's district ranks 29th, and Rep. Nick LaLota's 39th. But New York also has four poor districts that have among the fewest taxpayers affected by SALT. Ranking 422nd is Rep. Ritchie Torres's district in the Bronx, which had an average income of $36,265 in 2022. The average income in Mr. Lawler's district was $144,270.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. Family Net Worth: How To Tell If You're Poor, Middle Class or Rich
Your social class is an indicator of socioeconomic status that acts as more than a simple metric. It carries a significant amount of weight with how income inequality or education levels are move viewed and measured. The term middle class is also not static; it can change based on your location, or even your age. Find Out: For You: So, as much as your economic security is about how much money you make, it's also about how you feel. Keep reading to find out how to determine whether your poor, middle class or rich. Whether your financial path experiences upward or downward mobility, the factors that affect poor, rich or middle-class families vary widely. A higher income in an expensive big city may level out to a median income when it combats the cost of living. Here are a few takeaways from a 2024 Gallup study examining how Americans identify themselves on the spectrum of class: 54% of Americans identify as being part of a middle-class household. 39% outright claimed to be middle class, whereas 15% viewed themselves as upper-middle class. 31% consider themselves to be working class, yet 12% felt they were lower class. Only 2% of American adults qualify themselves as upper class. Moreover, not all class indicators directly correlate to your economic status. For instance, a graduate student's stipend might net them $20,000 a year or so, which would put them in a lower class, but you have to consider their future income based on the time put into education. Someone else raised in the upper class could go bankrupt for one reason or another, but even though they're temporarily without income, they're able to draw on the habits and support of their upper-class background. They're able to ignore some of the issues more prevalent with the lower and middle classes, including the inability to pay rent or credit card bills. Though lower income households often are hit first and hardest in times of economic turmoil, things such as stock market crashes, recessions or tariffs impact how far everyone's money will go. You might be questioning where you fit in due to recent and ongoing economic trends, including high inflation rates, layoffs, future recession worries and the continuing effects of economic turmoil and cooling-off periods. If you're not sure which class in the United States you fall within, here are the markers to look for according to Resource Generation. Poorer or lower-income households are found to be approximately 20% of the population. They hold less than 1% of the total wealth in large part due to the following factors: Unstable housing Limited access to higher education Heavy debt Difficulty paying basic expenses Accustomed to the sharing of resources Disproportionate incarceration rates Treated as a burden/expendable Lack of access to healthcare Working-class heroes are becoming a demographic that is harder to define. This group currently makes up about 40% of the population and holds less than approximately 3% of the total wealth. Here are some key takeaways as to why: Manual labor: working for the middle/upper class Sometimes, they have access to higher education, with student loans being an issue Limited savings, living from paycheck to paycheck Debt is a daily concern Somewhat stable housing Also treated poorly Middle-class Americans are another demographic group of households that seems to be dwindling or at least shrinking by current definition standards. They represent an estimated 20% of the population and 8% of the total wealth — here's a breakdown: Stable housing/homeownership Stable employment Jobs tend to have ideal benefits Higher college education Debt usually from mortgage/education It may be no surprise that the people earning higher incomes hold a bigger share of the reserve. The upper class is estimated to be about 19% of the population but holds 49% of the total wealth. The following are just a few of the signs you might be in the upper class: Own more than one home Elite education, student loans are usually not an issue Stock market investment Early retirement Inheritances Easy access to legal aid As far as being rich is concerned, they are literally estimated to be 1% of the population, so the nickname 'the 1%' holds true to this stigma, along with 40% of the total wealth. Here are a few key signs you may be one of them: Own the largest, nicest homes Full-time work is optional Elite schools and higher education Large inheritances Wide range of social connections Treated as leaders Access to the best legal aid Hold positions of notable power/esteem Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article. More From GOBankingRates 5 Types of Cars Retirees Should Stay Away From Buying This article originally appeared on U.S. Family Net Worth: How To Tell If You're Poor, Middle Class or Rich Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CBS News
16-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
How much would Americans of different income save in taxes if the GOP bill is signed into law?
The White House on Friday touted a Republican-backed tax bill as delivering "PERMANENT tax cuts and bigger paychecks." Yet experts say the legislation would disproportionately benefit the highest income earners, while offering far more modest gains to Americans lower down the ladder. If the bill is passed, households with more than $1 million in annual income would see their after-tax earnings rise by 4.3%, according to a new analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a public policy think tank. The lowest-earning 20% of Americans would receive the smallest boost — their after-tax incomes would rise 0.6%, or an average of $90 annually, CBPP found. Other analyses have reached similar conclusions. The Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, forecasts that the bottom 20% of Americans would see a 0.6% increase in after-tax income under the House tax bill, compared with a 3.7% increase for the top 20%. The fate of the GOP tax bill is unclear after five Republican members of the House Budget Committee on Friday voted against advancing the measure, dubbed the "one big, beautiful, bill," saying the legislation does not do enough to slash federal spending. Such projections don't include the impact of cuts to federal programs such as Medicaid and food stamps, which support many low- and middle-income households. Under the GOP bill, those services could face steep cuts, potentially bumping millions off Medicaid by adding work requirements and cutting federal funding provided to states to support the health care program. Those cuts could leave many low-income households worse off even after accounting for lower taxes, according to another analysis released Friday from the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a University of Pennsylvania research group that analyzes the fiscal impact of public policies. The bottom 20% of households, who earn up to about $17,000 annually, would see their after-tax incomes drop by $1,035 in 2026, including a reduction in government benefits, the nonpartisan group found. The top 0.1%, who earn at least $4.3 million per year, would get an annual after-tax boost of about $389,000, Penn Wharton said. The White House took issue with the CBPP and Penn Wharton analyses. "Once again, the experts are wrong, just as they were about the impact of Trump's tariffs, which have yielded trillions in investments, record job growth, and no inflation," said White House spokesman Harrison Fields in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. He added, "These experts should be embarrassed to share their 'expertise,' considering the egg still on their faces. MAGAnomics transcends conventional wisdom, and the President's One, Big, Beautiful Bill will continue to prove the haters wrong." The White House pointed to an analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation that estimated the average tax bill would decline 11.1% in 2027 under the GOP legislation. The nonpartisan panel, which assess the impact of legislation for Congress, found that the biggest tax decrease would go to people earning $15,000 to $30,000, with a decline of 21.1%, while those earning more than $1 million would decline 8.6% Tariff impact Because low-income households spend a bigger share of their income on basics like food and clothing than wealthier Americans, they are likely to take a bigger financial hit from tariffs, experts including the nonpartisan Yale Budget Lab have said. That could effectively wipe out the benefits from the tax cuts, according to some analysts. If inflation rises as a result of higher tariffs and tax cuts, the bottom 20% of U.S. households would lose $100 per year, largely due to paying higher costs for consumer goods that are imported from other countries, the CBPP found. Because tariffs are taxes on imports paid by U.S. businesses, they typically pass on the cost of such duties to consumers by raising prices. "If we add just the effects of the tariffs the Trump Administration has put in place, the plan would still boost the rich while leaving the lowest-income people worse off because their tax cuts are so small," Brendan Duke, senior director for federal fiscal policy at the CBPP, said in a post. Counting the impact of tariffs, the top 1% of households would still see their after-tax incomes increase by 3%, or almost $45,000, the think tank estimated. That analysis doesn't include the impact of cuts to services like Medicaid or food stamps. On Thursday, Walmart said it plans to hike prices this month to offset the cost of new tariffs introduced by the Trump administration. Extending the 2017 tax cuts As well as calling for deeper cuts in federal spending, the Republican lawmakers blocking the tax bill also want to move up work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, which under the current bill wouldn't kick in until 2029. Other Republicans want a bigger deduction cap on state and local taxes, known as SALT, that can be applied on people's federal tax returns. The bill increases the cap on the deduction from $10,000 to $30,000. But the bill's basic outline for cutting taxes isn't a focus of debate among Republicans, who are seeking to extend Mr. Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill would also add a host of other cuts, such as eliminating taxes on workers' overtime pay and tips, while also providing a more generous standard deduction.
