1. Among the 25 million U.S. households in the bottom fifth on the income ladder, average income is just $18,000 a year.
2. Each year, about one in seven U.S. households suffers a drop in annual income of 25% or more.
3. Even when Obamacare is fully implemented, 5-10% of U.S. citizens still won’t have coverage, a far higher share than in any other rich nation.
4. Too many Americans will soon reach retirement age with little savings and inadequate pensions.
5. Among affluent countries for which data are available, the United States has one of the lowest levels of intergenerational earnings mobility.
6. An American born into a family in the bottom fifth of incomes between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s has roughly a 30% chance of reaching the middle fifth or higher in adulthood.
7. An American born into the top fifth of incomes has an 80% chance of ending up in the middle fifth or higher.
8. The average income for U.S. households in the top 1% soared from $350,000 in 1979 to $1.3 million in 2007.
9. For the bottom 60% of U.S. incomes, the rise was quite modest: from $30,000 to $37,000.
10. Average U.S. household savings as a share of disposable household income fell from 10% during the 1970s to just 3% during the first decade of this century.
From America’s Social Democratic Future by Lane Kenworthy (Foreign Affairs)
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