|
A few years ago we wrote about the biggest unnoticed story in America, the
widening gap between the wealthy and the great American middle class.
Some economists and sociologists believe the so-called middle class may
be disappearing from the mix.
A new report released this week by the Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute, both in Washington, presents
some disturbing concerns. The story was a top of the page headline in The
Charleston Gazette this week and was front page on most West Virginia
newspapers.
West Virginia's poorest families made almost the same amount of money in
1999 they made in 1979, while the income of the state's wealthier families
rose 36.6%.
The report states nationally the rich continue to get richer and the poor
continue to get poorer. The gap, according to the study, is threatening the
country's social cohesion and the nation's middle class.
Between World War II and the 1970's, the upper and lower incomes grew at
a closer rate.
In West Virginia, the bottom fifth of families dropped $473 a year, but the
top fifth gained 36.6 per cent. The state had the sixth-highest inequity
growth between poor and middle income families.
In the 1970's, the states richest residents earned 6.5 times as much as the
poorest, but in the 1990's the richest earned 9.2 times as much.
The report said globalization, GATT, NAFTA, immigration and fewer and
weaker labor unions all contributed to the widening gap between the rich
and poor.
It also said states with wide income gaps tend to tax low income families
and raise sales taxes to compensate for budget problems, which applies to
West Virginia tax policy. Many states continue to keep their own version of
estate taxes, although the federal government repealed their tax.
In West Virginia, mostly unreported, hundreds of light manufacturing jobs
are leaving the state, with 1000 in the central and Little Kanawha region
either already gone or about to go.
More to follow on this report.
| 
