Some reasons why this is becoming so: Labor laws make it difficult for people in lower income tiers to climb up the income ladder. It's difficult for people wh

Some reasons why this is becoming so: Labor laws make it difficult for people in lower income tiers to climb up the income ladder. It's difficult for people who are working less than fulltime jobs to work more hours because of the "40hr = benefits" laws, so instead folks have to work multiple jobs which adds transportation costs and scheduling complexities. The preponderance of regulations and complex taxes has made it more difficult to start many types of companies as an individual, putting them out of reach of folks who don't have significant savings and existing income. Public education is no longer as much of a guarantor of basic literacy as it once was, so college education is increasingly becoming a necessary credential for many office work, knowledge work, and "professional" jobs, putting those out of the reach of many low income folks who are put off by taking on so much student loan debt or can't afford to support themselves and put themselves through college at the same time. Similarly, anti-blue-collar sentiment has grown, devaluing such jobs culturally and discouraging people from pursuing such positions, even though many are well paying and can serve as spring boards to even higher paying jobs (e.g. self-employment). Moreover, the reduction in vocational training, shop classes, and so forth in public schooling has pushed a lot of those jobs even farther away from the average American adult. The War on Drugs: which impacts lower income, blue-collar, and non-white people more. If you get caught with weed as a sub-urban white teen you'll face different consequences than if you're an inner-city black teen. Some of these trends will hopefully turn around, especially with the help of the internet in terms of education, crowd funding, and so forth, but it's still going to be a pretty difficult problem for some time.