NEW YORK CITY, New York – According to the Global Issues website, approximately half of the world—three billion people-–live on less than $2.50 a day, and over 80% of the world’s population live in countries where income gaps are widening. The site also reads, “The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income.”
How much money does the richest 20% account for? What is this money spent on? And just how much money would it take to help put a stop to this ever-increasing income gap, once and for all?
What could these wealthy people accomplish, with their money, for the poor?
According to Forbes magazine’s List of Billionaires, there are approximately 1,342 billionaires living on the planet today. These “wealthies” range in financial wealth anywhere from the poorest, (those just living with $1 billion), to the richest, living with $73 billion. These are the people accounting for roughly 75% of the world’s income.
While many of these billionaires do donate generous amounts of funding to various charities, a large portion of their earnings are still spent on lavish luxuries such as mansions, penthouses, expensive jewelry and fancy cars. The reality is that they could be doing so much more with their money to help those who cannot even afford the most basic of necessities like food and clothing.
Rather than spending money on unnecessary items and trinkets, these extremely influential wealthies could be making an effort to help the helpless by donating time, effort, and funding to various programs.
These billionaires could be spending money on things such as food, clean water, clothing, shelter, medical facilities, schools, and non-violence campaigns and really make a difference in the lives of the poor. If they chose to, these wealthies could even change the money distribution pattern altogether and attempt to solve the income gap pandemic.
There is a never-ending amount of acts that the wealthies of the world could preform in service of the poor and the helpless. The question isn’t what can they do to help, but rather, what can’t they do?
– Meagan Hurley
Sources: Global Issues, Forbes
Photo: Yahoo Finance