Vocabulary

What do the words in bold below mean? Make some notes on paper to aid memory and then check below.

The line chart shows the total percentage of income earned by the top 1% of the population in 7 different countries from 1975 to 2015. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that wealth distribution became more unequal over time, particularly in the United States and to a lesser extent in Germany, Canada and the UK. Distributions were more equal in the other nations though they increased overall.

In terms of the countries with the greatest increases, the United States rose steadily from 8% in 1975 to 9% by 1986 before a precipitous climb to 13% over the next several years and a surge with occasional fluctuations over the remainder of the period to finish at around 18%. The rises for Germany, the UK, and Canada followed similar though slightly lower trajectories with only the former beginning high (11%) and all 3 nations finishing with comparable dips to near 13% in 2015.

For the nations with more marginal rises, there were similar declines to near 2% for France, Japan, and Italy for the first decade in question prior to steady rises in the 1980s. In 1990, France and Japan fell again to around 3%, though all 3 countries recovered and continued to increase consistently until the end of the period, with final figures just below 5%.