The Occupy movement has brought economic inequality to the headlines. Occupy protesters around the country have labeled themselves the 99 percent, in contrast to the wealthiest 1 percent. While this has captured the public's attention, differences in wealth have always existed, and states have tried to level the playing field by redistributing money through education spending, unemployment benefits, health care, welfare, and other means.
Read The Ten States Doing The Most To Spread The Wealth
24/7 Wall St. examined government spending by state in a number of categories to identify those that give the most and least in money and benefits to their residents. Our analysis has found that states that provide the most services and benefits have high income inequality. In order to finance these programs, the states that offer the most to their residents also have among the highest tax burdens in the country. While all income levels benefit from government assistance, the poor and the dispossessed benefit the most, in the form of welfare, medicare, and unemployment insurance.
Tax burden refers to the average amount a person pays in taxes as a percentage of his or her income. The Tax Foundation calculates each state's tax burden by taking the total amount paid by the state's residents in taxes, and dividing it by the total income of the state's residents. Eight of the ten states that are most generous are among the top fifteen states with the highest tax burdens. New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are all included on the list and also fill the top three slots for largest tax burdens in the country.
Income inequality measures how evenly wealth is distributed among residents of an area. Income inequality is high when a few people make a great deal and many make far less. Six of the ten states that are most generous are in the top 15 states for highest rates of income inequality. The three states with the greatest inequality in the country — New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts — are among the most generous. Many of the states giving the least, such as Idaho and Indiana, fall on the other end of the spectrum for income inequality.
cont'd
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/11/states_doing_the_most_spread_wealth_n_1088935.html
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