Income

In 2021 there were 7.4 million families living below the poverty level which is $26,000 per year for a family of four. The official poverty rate in 2021 was 11.6%, with 37.9 million people in poverty. What Is a Middle-Class Income? ; Poor or near-poor, $32,048 or less ; Lower-middle class, $32,048 - $53,413 ; Middle class, $53,413 - $106,827 . How many in the middle income group are willing to share some of their income with those living in poverty. Many of these people often talk about income redistribution but they are not talking about their income. It is easy to give away income from the other guy. Lets go after the rich is a common refrain. No one needs more than one million dollars per year to live seems reasonable to most people. In a free society it is difficult to find a way for government to deal with income. The current approach is the progressive income tax. California is a leader in income redistribution. In California there are 100,000 people who earn more than one million dollars per year and they pay 40% of the states personal income tax which comes to $2.5 million each. This could be expanded to the whole country. Right now 11 million people in the US earn more than one million per year and if they paid 40% of the tax it would mean $630,000 each which is far less than the Californians who are paying $2.5 million each. The rich can certainly pay more.