Can someone summarize this paragraph?

"Many of the problems we associate with poverty, like self-defeating decisions, are actually driven by people's psychological reactions to inequality," Payne says. "It has a lot to do with feeling relatively poor compared to people who have a lot more." In his book, The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die, Payne reports that while the incomes of Americans in the top 20 percent have skyrocketed over the past several decades, the average income of the bottom 60 percent of earners remains roughly the same (adjusted for inflation) as it was in the 1960s. "People are left behind, but only by comparison to those who are much wealthier," Payne explains. The sense of being less well off than others, he suggests, is important for understanding "how changes in the economy are influencing people's everyday life."

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Kendall Poole

6 February, 15:28

Can someone summarize this paragraph?

"Many of the problems we associate with poverty, like self-defeating decisions, are actually driven by people's psychological reactions to inequality," Payne says. "It has a lot to do with feeling relatively poor compared to people who have a lot more." In his book, The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die, Payne reports that while the incomes of Americans in the top 20 percent have skyrocketed over the past several decades, the average income of the bottom 60 percent of earners remains roughly the same (adjusted for inflation) as it was in the 1960s. "People are left behind, but only by comparison to those who are much wealthier," Payne explains. The sense of being less well off than others, he suggests, is important for understanding "how changes in the economy are influencing people's everyday life."

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Deacon Benton · Answer 1

"It has a lot to do with feeling relatively poor compared to people who have a lot more." In his book, The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die, Payne reports that while the incomes of Americans in the top 20 percent have skyrocketed over the past several decades, the average income of the bottom 60 percent of earners remains roughly the same (adjusted for inflation) as it was in the 1960s.