Income Gap in the US Widens

Summary: A new data from the census board showed that the rich Americans earn almost twelve times more than those in the middle and poor class families.

Experts said that the hardest hit in the recession were the “working class” families and that the number is hardly surprising.

A new data from the United States government released on Wednesday showed that the income gap between the rich and poor Americans has widened further in the wake of the recession as more jobs were lost.

The study showed that in 2008, the richest Americans ($138, 000 annual salary), which made out of 10 percent of the population, were earning 11.5 times more than those in the middle and poor families ($12, 000 annual salary or less).

The Census Board said that an American can be considered as poor, if they are earning way below this figure or if they are earning near or below the set poverty line. In 2007, the rich were earning 11.2 times more than poor families.

The record was 11.22 times in 2003.

Meanwhile, the government said that the overall household income in all groups has declined but there has been a sharper drop in the income of middle and poor families.

The poverty rate has also jumped to more than 13.2 percent, the highest in 11 years.

Economists from Harvard University said that there is no surprise in the outcome of the survey, saying that massive unemployment, especially during the recession, has hurt hundreds of thousands of families during the recession.