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"In studies of many different types of human communities, anthropologists have shown that, as groups get larger and more complex, their wealth tends to get distributed more and more unequally." This article describes how societies have grown economically grown over time and how they are affected. 

"We have regressed in social mobility and income equality. For the first time in our history, we are less socially mobile than Europe. And economic inequality is manifestly real, dangerous and growing. The top 10 percent of Americans now account for half of the national income, compared to one-third a number of years ago. Journalist and author David Cay Johnston has given us a vivid measure: "The average increase in real income reported by the bottom 90 percent of earners in 2011, compared with 1966, if measured at one inch, would extend almost five miles for the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent." In a June 2013 Brookings Institution/Hamilton Project study, the observation was made that "children of well-off families are disproportionately likely to stay well off, and children of poor families are very likely to remain poor." It is widely understood that the single best predictor of future financial success is educational achievement, yet educational opportunities seem to be sorely lacking for all but the families at the top of the income ladder. High-income parents invest more in their children, widening the gap between those who are rich and poor in test scores, college attendance and graduation. A 2010 study of the most selective higher education institutions by Georgetown University researchers Anthony Carnevale and Jeff Strohl concluded that "the wealthiest students out-populate the poor students by a margin of 14 to 1."" This article talks about how economic inequality is growing and how it is dangerous for the United States. It explains how the Haves will most likely stay Haves and past that down through generation after generation of their families. Being a have not includes higher education that the Have Nots can't afford, which then leads the Haves to get higher paying jobs. The Have Nots continue with lower education and lower paying jobs which will continue the spread of economic inequality.

"After incomes at all levels declined as a result of the Great Recession, income growth has been lopsided since the recovery began in 2009, with the top 1 percent capturing an alarming share of economic growth."

"While there are plentiful data examining the fortunes of the top 1 percent at the national level, this report uses the latest available data to examine how the top 1 percent in each state have fared over 1917-2012, with an emphasis on trends over 1928-2012 (data for additional percentiles spanning 1917-2012 are available at go.epi.org/topincomes1917to2012). In so doing, this analysis finds that all 50 states have experienced widening income inequality in recent decades." This article, including many data tables and types of statistical analysis, analyzes and describes the differences in history of income inequality in the US and the top 1% of incomes, and then later focuses on inequality in 2012 (the most recent year where state data is available) and the specifics of each state and the gaps between the top 1% and the average incomes of those in the bottom 99%.

"Oxfam releases study finding that world's richest 1 percent are set to control more than half of all global wealth by 2016, marking watershed in rise of income inequality; report, which comes days before annual World Economic Forum meeting, indicates that divide is starker than at any point in recent history. " This article shows that the gap between the classes, and ultimately income, is growing incredibly fast. This shows that something needs to be done to at least slow this down. I don't think that we should eliminate the classes, just decrease the gap.

This website is a good reference if you are looking for some backup info of what were the duties of the Roman citizens, from the slaves and the poor, to the very wealthy. 

"It is no secret that the past few decades of widening inequality can be summed up as significant income and wealth gains for those at the very top and stagnant living standards for the majority. I think it is appropriate to ask whether this trend is compatible with values rooted in our nation's history, among them the high value Americans have traditionally placed on equality of opportunity." "America, on the other hand, is lousy at moving many people out of poverty but great at making a very few very rich." Within the last year America has had created the most millionaires in the world. Economist argue that the recent rise in economic inequality stems from the massive salaries of high income earners. Basically as the upper class grows, those who are in the middle and lower class, will most likely stay there, with very few becoming millionaires

This article addresses the issue of income.  It has statistics and discussion of the statistics.

"After decades of campaigning and lobbying, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, and ensured the equal treatment and equal access of people with disabilities to employment opportunities and to public accommodations. The ADA intended to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in: employment, services rendered by state and local governments, places of public accommodation, transportation, and telecommunications services." This article is a timeline of rights people with disabilities have gained since the 1800s, it also highlights the social and economic barrier they faced and still have to face. The paragraph is about 1990 when the ADA was passed and equal treatment was finally ensured.

"Education was historically considered a great equalizer in American society, capable of lifting less advantaged children and improving their chances for success as adults. But a body of recently published scholarship suggests that the achievement gap between rich and poor children is widening, a development that threatens to dilute education's leveling effects." In this article, there was a discussion about how an education gap between different income families has been increasing over the years in America through several statistics. A major reason for this is because many low-income families have a set-back in their education since high-income families spend more money and time on their children's academic futures. Also, a study mentioned in this article explains how many low-income families face hardships with their students completing college due to troubles financially with the tuition.

"The growing gap between the better educated and the less educated, he argued, has formed a kind of cultural divide that has its roots in natural social forces, like the tendency of educated people to marry other educated people, as well as in the social policies of the 1960s, like welfare and other government programs, which he contended provided incentives for staying single." Overall, this article discusses the possible reasons and explanations for why the education gap has been increasing between different families and children in America. One of the major reasons this gap has become so prominent is because successful people tend to only associate with other successful people. And their children will end up continuing the trend because they too have received a higher education, and want to remain wealthy. The down side to this theory that many researchers have found is that the poorer families have a similar history. So, even if the children grow up in the same area, one is still going to receive a better education than the other depending on wealth. In addition, the article also explained how many of the problems could be resolved as income increases allowing for lower income families to receive the rightful education. Recommended:educationachievement gapsmithson5snow2 Group dictionary:incomeeducationsnow1snow7Smithson7lowder1responsibilitysmithson5snow2snow3 Share my existing annotations Savecancel "