The United States of America was built on the idea of equal opportunity for everyone. While the idea is great, the reality of it is fading. Today, opportunity is available for those who can afford it. Economic mobility is an unrealistic dream for an average American because there are too many financial obstacles that bridge the vast gap between the rich and the poor. Income growth used to be fairly achievable through hard work and determination, but this argument does not hold true anymore. Marginal income growth for the wealthy, high college costs, and outsourcing of American jobs are major factors that contribute to the failure of economic equality in our country. Income growth in America is disproportionate; it allows the top 1% to further prosper while the bottom 99% struggles. Average Americans do not have the same opportunities to increase their wealth as much as the upper class does. Especially in the U.S economy, people who have a high net worth can invest big, and win big. On the other hand, those with a small net worth lack the money needed to up their total income. .
Uwe E. Reinhardt, a political economy professor at Princeton, collected data that shows that the top 1% income grew about 10% from 2002-2007, while the bottom 99% income grew only 1.3%. This data supports the idea that the big earners continue to accumulate wealth, while the smaller earners see slim amounts of income growth. This trend is consistent through the past decade and nothing seems to be slowing down the unequal growth. Since the top percentile accumulates wealth at a faster rate than the lower percentile, the gap between the two expands. In turn, this makes the jump between the two percentiles more difficult. According to Timothy Smeeding, a Professor of Economics and Public Administration at Syracuse University, the rate of unequal income growth causes one to travel a greater distance on the social ladder in order to move up in society.