The widening wealth gap in the US is starkly illustrated by the middle-class income share. Americans in the middle of the income range now earn only 42.5% of the income of those in the top 90th percentile, a significant drop from the 1980s.
This erosion of the middle class is part of a larger, politically engineered inequality crisis that has led to over four million Americans living in extreme poverty ($3 a day or less), tripling the rate from 35 years ago.
The structural policies—tax cuts for the rich, safety-net reductions—have created an income environment where the poorest 10% receive a lower share of national income than low-income groups in countries like Nigeria and Bangladesh.