Family Wealth Inequality Widens: CBO Report

Between 1989 and 2022, family wealth was unevenly distributed wealth inequality increased, according to an October 2 report from the Congressional Budget Office.

"In 2022, families in the top 10% of the income distribution held 60% of all wealth, up from 56% in 1989, and families in the top 1% of the distribution held 27%, up from 23% in 1989. The share of wealth held by the rest of the families in the top half of the distribution shrank from 37% to 33% over the same period. Families in the bottom half of the distribution held 6% of all wealth in both 1989 and 2022," the report says.

LeadingAge stays abreast of research on population income and wealth as individuals and their families often must rely on these sources to pay for needed aging services. According to the report, Social Security wealth accounted for more than 40% of the assets of families in the bottom half of the distribution and almost half of the assets of families in the bottom 25%. In 2022, families in the bottom 25% of the wealth distribution had less than $178,600 in wealth. On average, families in that group had $74,200 in wealth, the report says.

Read the full report here.