The richest 20% of America are the real pandemic supersavers

https://money.yahoo.com/richest-america-are-the-pandemic-supersavers-172400880.html

 

Denitsa Tsekova·Reporter
Thu, January 28, 2021, 12:24 PM

During the worst year for economic recovery since 1946, Americans socked away money at a historically high pace.

But those savings largely stayed in the pockets of higher earners, while everyone else held close to nothing by the end of 2020.

U.S. households accumulated around $1.6 trillion in excess savings over the last 10 months, according to an analysis by Oxford Economics. But the top 20% of earners — and to a lesser extent the second 20% —account for all the current accumulated cash. Meanwhile, the bottom 60% have spent most of the savings they accumulated in the pandemic from direct payments and unemployment benefits.

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The top quintile  [20%] of households has saved an average of $50,000 since the pandemic started, while for the second quintile averaged $9,000, the analysis found. For the rest of the population, their savings are currently at their pre-pandemic levels or, in some cases, lower.

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