这个群体甚至比那1%还富有

2014年，1%最高收入群体在美国财富中占的比重略低于11%。然而，华盛顿智囊机构Urban Institute学者史蒂芬•罗斯的研究表明，上层中产阶级目前控制着美国约52.1%的收入。

罗斯写道：“所有局限于这1%群体的贫富差距论述都漏掉了很大一部分真相，因为它们都没有注意到不断壮大的中上阶级与中产及中下阶级之间的显著差距。”

罗斯指出，对美国社会的相互敌视以及由收入不均引发的权力剥夺现象都源于这个不断扩大的差距，而不是上层社会和中下阶级的分裂。同时，这个差距还造成了伯尼•桑德斯和唐纳德•特朗普等政治局外人在本届大选中的崛起。

罗斯写道：“中产阶级和中上阶级的互动较多，和巨富阶层的互动较少。在那个1%群体中，位居前十分之一的人收入增幅巨大，但和由此带来的贫富差距感受相比，中产阶级也许会更强烈地感觉到自己在中上阶级面前节节败退。”

罗斯的报告对中上阶级的定义是2014年年收入介于100000-349999美元之间的三口之家。美国国税局的最新数据则显示，那个1%最富有群体在2013年的收入则至少有428713美元。

35年来，中上阶级的规模扩大了一倍以上，在美国人口中的比重从1979年的12.9%升至2014年的29.4%，成为仅次于中产阶级的第二大群体。中产阶级占美国人口的32%，拥有25.8%的财富。

“这个差异有一个实实在在的体现，那就是在大多数大城市里，各个街区或社区的住宅面积和价格差距极大。我们想办法制止种族或族群隔离，但收入造成的隔离（而且程度越发严重）却作为一种生活现实为人们所接受。”

作为该报告的作者，罗斯还谈到了另外一个引人注意的现象。那就是在1979-2014年，其他收入群体的工资普遍上涨，而收入最低的那5%美国人在此期间的工资却下降了12%。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：詹妮

IWhile the top 1% claimed just under 11% of the U.S.’s riches in 2014, the upper middle class now controls about 52.1% of America’s income, according to a study by Stephen Rose the Urban Institute.

“Any discussion of inequality that is limited to the 1% misses a lot of the picture because it ignores the large inequality between the growing upper middle class and the middle and lower middle classes,” Rose wrote.

It’s that growing difference rather than the schism between the upper class and lower middle class that is the source of hostility and disenfranchisement regarding U.S. income inequality. It is also this divide that has led to the rise of political outsiders such as Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in this election cycle, Rose noted.

“People in the middle class interact more with the upper middle class than they do with the very rich, and they may have stronger feelings of losing ground to the upper middle class versus their feelings about the inequality due to the huge income increases of those in the top one-tenth of 1% of the income ladder,” Rose wrote.

The upper middle class, according to the paper, is defined as a family of three earning between $100,000 to $349,999 annually in 2014. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Internal Revenue Services, the top 1% earned at least $428,713 in 2013.

This group of upper middle class households has more than doubled in size over the past 35 years, from 12.9% in 1979, to 29.4% in 2014—the second largest demographic behind the middle class, which accounts for 32% of the population and controls 25.8% of the wealth.

“This difference has a physical dimension, in that most metropolitan areas differ greatly by the size and price of the homes in their neighborhoods and communities. We try to limit segregation by race or ethnicity, but segregation by income (which is growing) is accepted as a fact of life.”

Rose, the author of the report, also noted one more interesting trend. While all other income levels experienced a pay raise between 1979 and 2014, the bottom 5% of earners actually saw their income fall by 12% in the same period.