The less a worker earns, the less he or she has to save and invest. However, more than two-thirds of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. The richest 1% of Americans hold more than 40% of total U.S. wealth. The bottom 80 percent, which includes the upper middle class and everyone below, owns only about 7 percent of the nation's total wealth. Wealth inevitably begets wealth. Once someone has wealth, they generate their own wealth. The interest and dividends added to that wealth, along with the sale of assets, are mostly passed down from generation to generation, becoming larger and larger over time. As a result, the system is disproportionately stacked against low-income families, especially families of color. Low-income families cannot afford or save enough to buy a home, so they are usually forced to rent. For families of color, however, the disadvantage is much more pronounced. In fact, the average net worth of a white family is about ten times higher than that of a family of color. They are far less likely to inherit any wealth across generations and face even worse obstacles unfairly placed on them, such as discriminatory policies that prevent them from owning homes and the wage gap between white workers and workers of color who hold the same jobs. Over time, the level of poverty adds up, and the level of poverty becomes a system that becomes increasingly difficult to escape. The government tries to get things done