This paper examines the scope and significance of income inequality in the United States by drawing on statistical evidence, national polling data, and political discourse. Using figures from peer-reviewed research, Gallup surveys, and journalism, it documents how wealth is concentrated among a small fraction of Americans while median incomes have stagnated. The paper then analyzes how both major political parties have approached the issue: Democrats have championed minimum wage legislation and positioned themselves as advocates for working Americans, while Republicans — historically less focused on inequality — have increasingly adopted the issue as a campaign talking point, largely in response to public opinion and the political landscape of the Obama era.
How serious is the issue of income inequality in the United States? This paper examines the factual data surrounding this issue, including polling numbers gathered by Gallup and the positions taken by Democrats and Republicans.
Journalist Larry Schwartz has compiled relevant data, and his article in Salon reveals a striking portrait of American wealth distribution: in 81% of U.S. counties, the median income is $52,000 — less than it was 15 years ago; the poorest half of Americans own just 2.5% of the country's wealth, while the top 1% own 35%; the cash paid out in Wall Street bonuses in 2014 was twice the total amount earned by all minimum-wage workers in the country combined; citizens of Italy, Belgium, and Japan are, on average, wealthier than ordinary Americans; and 400 Americans hold more wealth — $2 trillion — than the bottom half of all Americans combined (Schwartz, 2015).
In the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health, the authors note that in 1980 the top 5% of households accounted for 16.5% of all income while the bottom 20% accounted for 4.2%. By 2013, however, the top 5% of households accounted for 22.2% of all income, while the bottom 20% accounted for only 3.2% (Williams et al., 2015). These figures underscore a decades-long trend toward greater wealth concentration at the top of the income distribution.
Sixty-three percent of Americans polled by Gallup in May 2015 said that money and wealth distribution in the United States is unfair, and a small majority (52%) favored heavy taxes on the rich as a remedy (Newport, 2015). Breaking the results down by party: 12% of Democrats in the Gallup poll said income distribution is fair, 86% said income should be more evenly distributed, and 2% either did not know or declined to answer (Newport, p. 2). Among Republican respondents, 56% said distribution is fair, 34% indicated that wealth should be more evenly divided, and 9% did not know or declined to answer (Newport, 2015).
These polling results are not substantially different from surveys taken in 2009, 2011, and 2013. In fact, the average across the last 13 Gallup polls on this issue shows that 62% of Americans consistently agree that distribution is unfair (Newport, p. 1).
In the recent past, Democrats have been largely alone in discussing inequality in American incomes, according to a piece in The New York Times. But during the then-current campaign among Republican presidential hopefuls, the issue was coming up with increasing frequency. Why were Republicans presenting income inequality as a campaign issue? According to journalist Brendan Nyhan, it may have been necessary "to address an issue that the public sees as especially important" (2015). Republicans also apparently needed to "minimize the damage it can cause to a disadvantaged candidate or party." Additionally, President Obama had made inequality a prominent issue by, for example, calling for a raise in the minimum wage (Nyhan, 2015).
The G.O.P. also needed a way to criticize President Obama's management of the economy. Because Obama's policies had created millions of jobs since he took office, Republicans were "forced to shift to criticizing inequality and continued wage stagnation rather than a lack of economic growth" (Nyhan, p. 2).
There were other motivations as well, Nyhan continued, including the party's need to "look more caring" about the middle class in order to move past the perception that the G.O.P. cares only about "the economic interests of the rich" (Nyhan, p. 2).
"GOP political motivations for addressing inequality"
"Democratic legislation and messaging on inequality"
Nyhan, B. (2015). Why Republicans are suddenly talking about economic inequality. The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com.
Schwartz, L. (2015). 35 soul-crushing facts about American income inequality. Salon. Retrieved October 10, 2015, from http://www.salon.com.
Williams, J.A.P., and Rosenstock, L. (2015). American Journal of Public Health, 105(4), 616–619.
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