Episode #49

Why Are We Talking About Income Inequality When The Economy Is Strong?

You may have not thought about income inequality but it is definitely a big issue heading into this election season.

A new survey released in January by the Pew Research Center found that economic inequality is a concern with voters and not just liberals.

Americans across the board today see income inequality as a bigger problem than illegal immigration, which is the issue that Donald Trump rode to the White House in 2016.

On today’s episode, Sara and Misasha cover the good, the bad, and the ugly on this topic that has the power to impact us all.

“The disparity in the clients that I’ve worked with - paying clients versus pro bono clients - and their needs and their concerns has also continued to reinforce just how big income inequality is in this country.” Misasha

Show Highlights:

61% of adult Americans told Pew that there is “too much income inequality in the US”.
42% said reducing income inequality should be a major priority for the federal government. This is 3 percentage points more than those who said the same thing about reducing illegal immigration.
This figure rose to 78% when only accounting for those who lean politically to the left.
Income inequality and wealth inequality is most pronounced when the stock market is doing well.
Almost half of those in the economic middle class earning between $35,000 - $99,000 per year report having issues paying medical and dental bills, and prescription drug costs.
The poor and the middle class were about as likely as the very rich to say that hard work was the key component to success in modern America.
56% of the poor or 82% of the middle class thought that they had either achieved the “American dream” or were on their way to achieving it.
Political observers agree that it will take far more than a Presidential election to reverse a trend that has been in the works since the 1970s, which is when the gap really starting widening in this country.
Advocates see hopeful signs coming from candidates willing to talk about making major changes to an often-undemocratic political system as well as ambitious, economic plans.
We’re making more money than we ever have, but the gap is bigger than it’s ever been.
The recovery from the great recession has been slow and uneven with lower-income Americans, many of them Latino or African-American, experiencing fewer of the benefits.
Misasha addresses rising infant mortality rates, lowered life expectancy rates, rising suicide rates and an epidemic of drug overdoses and their relevance to income inequality.
Steph Sterling, Vice President for Advocacy and Policy at the Roosevelt Institute, has some ideas to tackle income inequality and its potential lethal effects, as Misasha shares.
Surprising common ground between liberals and conservatives, according to research.