The largest change is in the net worth of the top 1% and then the top 0.1%.
The top 10% (which presumably includes the top 1% and top 0.1% categories) is mostly flat for the past 35 years. The share held by the bottom 50% after collapsing in 2010, is also nearly flat since 1990.
The top 1% and 0.9% increases are offset by decline in the 50th-90th and 90th-99th percentile groups.
There is something missing from this chart, in terms of interpretation. Most people do not stay within one group.
Economists typically divide the population into quintiles – or 5 groups. Most people, when young, start their careers at the bottom quintile #1 or #2 (of income – but wealth categorization is somewhat similar), and then gradually rise up to quintile #4 or even #5 during their careers. Upon retirement, they typically fall back one quintile. Thus, someone in the 4th quintile, at retirement, typically drops back to the 3rd quintile.
A chart like the below chart captures a single “moment in time” and viewers assume it means that someone in the bottom 50% is always in the bottom 50%. But that is not how real life works – most workers will move up (or down) the scale, over time.
Trends in the US distribution of net worth | FRED Blog
Simultaneously, the labor force participation rate among working age adults has also gone down: Trends in US labor force participation rates for men | FRED Blog
