Wealth Inequality in America, Perception vs Reality. Ten Companies Paying the Least. This summer, thousands of fast-food workers in the United States went on strike in cities across the country, demanding their wages be increased to $15 an hour and the ability to unionize. To no one’s surprise, they didn’t get it. As of 2012, an estimated 4.7% of hourly workers are paid at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. According to several groups, low- and minimum-wage workers are growing faster than any other group of earners. Meanwhile, profits at many of the corporations that employ the most minimum-wage workers have risen. McDonald’s, Walmart and Target together employ several million Americans. While these companies’ profits have grown in recent years, most of their workers continue to earn low or minimum wages. 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 companies that employ the most low- and minimum wage workers.
Click here to see the Ten Companies Paying Americans the Least Temple explained: “Low-wage companies have choices. Buffett made $37 million a day in 2013. Richest 85 = wealth of 3.5B poorest. The combined wealth of the 85 richest people in the world is equal to that of 3.5 billion people -- or half the global population -- according to a report by Oxfam.
Click on the graphic to enlarge. The report states, "The bottom half of the world’s population owns the same as the richest 85 people in the world. " Among the report's other findings, it notes that 70 percent of the world's population reside in countries where income inequality has risen since the 1980s and 1 percent of families in the world own nearly half, 46 percent, of the world's wealth, or $110 trillion. The report was published in time for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where one of the most pressing topics has been global income inequality and its repercussions for economic health. Oxfam is asking the government to take action to reverse what it sees as a troubling trend of the growing influence of the rich on public policy and tax reform.
Read Bankrate's analysis of the widening income gap in the U.S. The Richest People in America List. CEO pay is more out of whack than ever. What does it take to get business-minded Bloomberg and the employee-aligned AFL-CIO to agree on something? An exponential increase in executive pay, apparently. Bloomberg reported Monday that the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay has increased 1,000% since 1950. Today's Fortune 500 CEOs make 204 times more than regular workers on average, up from 120-to-1 in 2000, 42-to-1 in 1980 and 20-to-1 in 1950. The AFL-CIO has only a minor quibble with that ratio, insisting that the 2012 figure is closer to 354-to-1. In each case, both Bloomberg and the unions agree that the balance of executive pay to worker compensation can be far more skewed, depending on which company is under the microscope.
Bloomberg notes that recently departed J.C. The workers who held the nearly 43,000 J.C. This isn't exactly an anomaly in the retail world, either. Elsewhere, former McDonald's (MCD -0.42%) CEO Jim Skinner ended his tenure last year making 434 times more than the average counter employee. More on moneyNOW. Americans grapple with income inequality. Americans know the challenges of trying to get ahead and speak reverently about making sure the country fulfills its promise as a land of economic opportunity.
ASHBURN, Va. — The wealthiest county in America is settled deep in 4 a.m. slumber when Neal Breen threads the mini-mansion subdivisions and snow-blanketed fairways on his way to open shop. There's two hours yet before the business day begins, but Breen, who is 21, has plenty to do after flipping on the lights. Donning a green apron without taking off his tweed cap, he boils the first of more than 500 bagels, then shovels them into a waiting oven. When the early risers step from their cars at a few minutes past 6, a chalkboard meets them at the door: "Breakfast of Champions. " Breen, who quit college a year ago with hopes of saving money to start his own business, is keenly aware that the wealth in the neighborhoods where he delivers breakfast sandwiches is, for now, beyond reach.
"Capitalism is about seizing opportunity. The U.S. How Unequal We Are: The Top 5 Facts You Should Know About The Wealthiest One Percent Of Americans. By Zaid Jilani "How Unequal We Are: The Top 5 Facts You Should Know About The Wealthiest One Percent Of Americans" Source: As the ongoing occupation of Wall Street by hundreds of protesters enters its third week — and as protests spread to other cities such as Boston and Los Angeles — demonstrators have endorsed a new slogan: “We are the 99 percent.” This slogan refers an economic struggle between 99 percent of Americans and the richest one percent of Americans, who are increasingly accumulating a greater share of the national wealth to the detriment of the middle class.
It may shock you exactly how wealthy this top 1 percent of Americans is. 1. As Professor Elizabeth Warren has explained, “there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Update For an excellent resource about how much income Americans at these different income levels have, see the Tax Policy Center.