Trends in the Distribution of Family Wealth, 1989 to 2022.
Trends in the Distribution of Family Wealth, 1989 to 2022.
CBO examines changes in family wealth from 1989 to 2022 using a measure of wealth that includes projected Social Security benefits. Over that period, family wealth was unevenly distributed, and wealth inequality increased.
Changes in Wealth During the Coronavirus Pandemic. From 2019 to 2022, total family wealth increased by 17 percent, from $170 trillion to $199 trillion (in 2022 dollars), and median family wealth increased by 8 percent, from $466,500 to $504,000. Wealth inequality changed little during the pandemic: Throughout that period, the share of wealth held by families in the top 1 percent of the distribution remained at 27 percent.
That's kind of surprising to read? My impression was that the wealthy were able to leverage the pandemic and historically low interest rates to make them even richer.