After COVID-19 shifted society, many citizens were left reimagining their way of life with less. Some saw drastic growth, widening the wealth gap.
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Bloomberg Wealth found since the coronavirus pandemic, the 50 richest Americans now hold as much wealth as half the population. The data, from the U.S. Federal Reserve, revealed that through the first half of 2020, there were drastic differences between race, age, and class. Citizens ranked in the top 1% have a combined net worth of $34.2 trillion, and people ranked in the lowest tier, about 165 million people hold just $2.08 trillion, or 1.9% of all household wealth.
The outlet noted the 50 richest people in the United States are worth almost $2 trillion, a figure up $339 billion from the beginning of the year. According to the report, the wealthiest 1% own more than 50% of the equity in corporations and in mutual fund shares. The next 9% of the wealthiest own more than a third of equity positions which translates to the top 10% of Americans holding more than 88% of shares.
“The pandemic is further widening divides in wealth and economic mobility,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said according to Bloomberg. “A long period of unnecessarily slow progress could continue to exacerbate existing disparities in our economy.”
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Differences in age and race are also highlighted through the data. Baby Boomers accounted for the majority of U.S. wealth, twice as much as Generation X’s share and more than 10 times Millennials’ small portion. Millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1996, control only 4.6% of U.S. wealth although having the largest representation in the workforce with 72 million, according to Bloomberg. The data found three rich millennials personally control one of every $40 obtained by their peers: Facebook founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz, and Lukas Walton, the heir to Walmart Inc.
For Black Americans, the amount of wealth controlled as a race has not grown in 30 years. White American households hold 83.9% of the nation’s wealth, compared with 4.1% for Black families. Eric Yuan, the chief executive officer of Zoom Video Communications Inc. is highlighted as the only member of the top 25 richest Americans who is non-white.
theGrio reported the coronavirus pandemic has become an economic issue for Black people as much as a health concern.
“As it pertains to Black people in the United States, we know that we’ve had a higher level of racial disparity in health care since the beginning of time, since we’ve entered this country,” Dr. Cwanza Pinckney said. “And I’m not believing that that’s gonna be any different. It’s already hard to get a test now if you’re in an underserved community.”
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