The past three decades mark a monumental divergence between the economic fates of China and the US. In 1990, China had nearly a billion citizens living on less than $3 a day; today, that number is zero. The scale of this poverty reduction achievement is historic.
Conversely, the US has allowed its extreme poverty to soar, with over four million Americans now surviving on less than $3 a day, tripling the figure from 35 years ago. This backward trend is not a failure of the economy, but a failure of US political choices concerning wealth distribution.
The impact is visible in the income gap. The poorest 10% of Americans receive an astonishingly low 1.8% of national income, a share smaller than in many poorer countries. This structural inequality is the product of sustained policies favoring the rich.
A Three-Decade Shift: 1990’s China Poverty vs. Today’s US Poverty
