“United States of Inequality: 2020 and the Great Divide” is a yearlong series by Capital & Main (capitalandmain.com), the California-based online publication that reports on economic, environmental and social issues. It examines how tens of millions of Americans increasingly struggle to make ends meet, and how this reality will affect one of the most consequential elections in U.S. history.

Stories already published include a timeline chronicling why income equality has worsened and 10 shocking facts; among them:

• An estimated 43.5 percent of the total U.S. population — 140 million people — are either poor or low-income.
• The median white family has 41 times more wealth than the median black family and 22 times more wealth than the median Latino family.
• CEO compensation has grown 940 percent since 1978, while typical worker compensation has risen only 12 percent during that time.
• More than 30 percent of black children and over 26 percent of Hispanic kids live in poverty.
• Three men own as much as the bottom half of Americans.
• The richest 5 percent of Americans own 66 percent of the nation’s wealth.
• U.S. men have three times more than women in retirement savings.