But even if these 15 families existed, they would not account for the high-income inequality in Latin America from a statistical point of view. What makes Latin America the most unequal region in the world is not the top 0.001 percent of the population but the top 10 percent. Here we have people with average incomes eight times greater than those in the bottom 30 percent. The difference is even more dramatic when we look at households. This is because in the top 10 percent nearly all adults work, but only one adult per family works in the bottom 30 percent.
Income is one major factor in inequality.
Another is education. People in the top 10 percent have about 12 years of schooling, putting them at a greater advantage over the bottom 30 percent, where people typically go no further than the fourth or fifth grade. A third key factor is the number of children per household. Those in the top 10 percent have fewer than two children, while those in the bottom 30 percent have twice that. Development really has five dimensions.