Most are qualified to receive help from the government. Studies have found that now people making lower amounts of money are able to buy more with their money. Many own good quality items. "They now own better-quality cars and washing machines than rich people did a decade ago." (Economist, 2003) .
While it does seem that the poorer people are doing better these days, what about how will the richer people are doing in comparison. The rich people are making more and more money. They are doing better off than they ever have. "According to the Census Bureau, the bottom 40 percent of American families earned 18 percent of the national income in 1970, by 1998 they earned 14 percent and it could fall even further to 10 percent." ( Shiller, 2003) The top five percent of American are earning more income than the bottom forty percent. Statistics show that this gap is just going to widen more and more every year. The wider the gap gets the harder it will be to fix the problem. There is not only a gap in income but an even higher gap in wealth. "The wealthy 1 percent control 38 percent of national wealth while the bottom 80 percent control only 17 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute." ( Economist, 2003) There are many big gaps in corporations between those who hold top positions and those who hold bottom positions. "A CEO is paid four hundred times as much as the average worker." (Economist, 2003) While wages of those in top positions are increasing, the wages of the bottom percentage of house holds are remaining about the same. Since the "need for skilled workers has gone up"( Rattner,2003), those who do not have a good education have to take jobs for unskilled workers. Unskilled jobs pay a lot less than other jobs. This contributes even more to inequality rising in America. These Many poorer people are in debt and their percentage of wealth is getting worse. " The bottom fifth worsened from -0.
