The average income for 80 percent of American families declined between 1980 and 1989, while the top fifth of Americans saw an increase of nearly 50 percent. The income of the top 1 percent grew by almost 75 percent over the decade. The median net worth of a high-income family grew by 82 percent between 1984 and 1989, while the wealth of the lowest-income group dropped by 16 percent. While the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, the middle was being hollowed out: the proportion of Americans making between $18,000 and $55,000 a year shrank by 20 percent in the 1980s.
