Praise poured in for this book

1.
The problem is the top 20 percent.

How the Top 20 Percent Perpetuates Inequality | Children Born into Privilege | Stifled Mobility | Tilt-Off Job Market | Unfair Opportunity Hoarding Strategies | Change Depends on the Top 20 Percent

2.
The gap between 20 and 80 is widening.

The top 20 percent are getting richer | High education is a status symbol | People choose spouses of the same level | Neighbors are like-minded | Health is an asset | Life is worth living for the top 20 percent

3.
Parenting gap creates privilege

Planned Births Are the First Step to Success | Which Parents Are More Devoted? | Not All Schools Are Created the Same | Prestigious Universities Offer More Opportunities for Middle- and Upper-Class Children | Children Raised in Quite Different Environments

4.
People on the Glass Floor

Focus on relative social mobility | We need to increase downward social mobility.

5.
How High-Paying Jobs Are Passed Down

The Dystopia of a Merit-Based Society | The Limits of Merit-Based Society | An Unequal Higher Education System | We Need a True Opportunity to Compete

6.
A strategy called opportunity hoarding

What Parents Shouldn't Do | What is Opportunity Hoarding? | Exclusive Land Use Regulations | The Unfair College Admissions System | Internships Where Networks and Connections Matter More | The Cultural Obstacle of Classism | Small Concessions Can Change Society

7.
Proposals for Change

Reduce unplanned pregnancies and births | Improve the quality of childcare by increasing home visiting programs | Put more quality teachers in the workforce | Make college financing fair | Eliminate exclusionary land use regulations | Eliminate preferential treatment for children of alumni | Open up internship opportunities | Fund by eliminating regressive tax subsidies

8.
Shout out to 20 percent of people

main
Acknowledgements

★★★ The Economist's Book of the Year
★★★ Politico's 50 Most Influential American Thinkers

From college admissions to housing and high-paying jobs
monopolizing all the privileges of society
Dissecting the Strategies and Hypocrisy of the Top 20 Percent

"20 vs. 80 Society," which was selected as the Economist's Book of the Year and had a huge impact on American society, has been published by Minumsa.
This book critiques point by point how the top 20 percent, who are actually responsible for inequality, are ruining society.
Author Richard Reeves breaks away from the conventional framework of confrontation between the top 1 percent and the remaining 99 percent and analyzes the structure of inequality centered on the top 20 percent, or the upper middle class.
This is a hotly debated book that sharply criticizes the hypocrisy and unfair practices of the middle and upper classes, and has changed the course of discussions on inequality.

Clear evidence, real data, and provocative claims
A controversial work that changed the course of the inequality debate

“The size and collective power of the upper middle class, the top 20 percent, can reshape cities, dominate education systems, and transform labor markets.
The middle and upper classes also have a huge influence on public discourse.
“Because most journalists, think tank researchers, TV producers, professors, and commentators are middle- and upper-class.”

In "20 vs. 80 Society," the author argues that the concept of the middle class is nothing more than a "convenient fiction."
To meaningfully analyze the current inequality structure, we must look at the problem through the frame of the 'upper-middle class.'
Current indicators of inequality reveal a huge gap between the top 20 percent and the remaining 80 percent, and this gap between the top 20 percent and the rest is widening.
Therefore, in order to identify the causes of inequality and devise solutions, we must recognize the structure of inequality called '20 VS 80' and focus the discussion on the upper-middle class, the top 20 percent.

The unequal structure of American society, which is mainly explained in this book, does not feel out of place when viewed in light of the reality of Korean society.
If the middle class is gradually disintegrating amid the global economic downturn, the behavior of the upper-middle class captured in this book is similar to the reality experienced by many in Korean society today.
The image of the upper-middle class trying to develop human capital through the upbringing and education of their children and thereby pass on high-paying professional jobs to their descendants is very familiar.
In this way, the gap widens and social status is inherited.
The phenomenon in Korean society, expressed as the so-called spoon theory, can be said to be an example of this context.
Therefore, as this book argues, the problem of inequality in Korean society also requires attention to the top 20 percent.
Through the clear figures and arguments presented in this book, realistic solutions can be found to many problems in Korean society.

Opportunity Hoarding Strategies for Your Children
There is no country for the 80 percent.

One of the important concepts presented by the author in ‘20 vs. 80 Society’ is ‘opportunity hoarding.’
Contrary to the hope that success can be achieved simply by having ability and skills, the opportunities for success are not equal, but rather, the top 20 percent are hoarding it.
The upper-middle class, regardless of means, monopolizes opportunities for success, including education, college admissions, internships, and high-paying jobs, and seeks to pass on social status to their children.
Their attempts become reality through laws and systems that are designed to their advantage.
Income, wealth, and social status that are unfairly inherited in this way gradually widen the gap in inequality.

The upper middle class hoards opportunities and creates a 'glass floor'.
The glass floor is a term coined by the author to refer to the safeguards that prevent the next generation from falling into the lower classes, and the author points out that we must pay attention to rigid downward mobility.
It highlights that the unfair practices of upper-middle-class parents who create a glass floor for their children are a key cause of maintaining inequality.
Opportunity hoarding and the glass floor it creates perpetuate class divisions and exacerbate inequality across generations.

“On weekdays, I criticize the problem of inequality,
“On weekends and evenings, we help reinforce inequality!”
A scathing dissection of the upper-middle class's dual attitude toward class.

The upper-middle class, highly educated and holding high-paying professional jobs, ostensibly criticizes inequality fiercely.
It was also the upper-middle-class intellectuals who created the confrontation between the 1 percent and the 99 percent and led the criticism of the super-rich at the top.
However, from the perspective of ‘consistency between words and actions’, their attitude is duplicitous and even hypocritical.
They support exclusive real estate policies to maintain their wealth and do everything possible to ensure their children receive good educations and high-paying jobs.
They use their connections and networks to provide internship opportunities for their children, and they can afford to support their tuition and even take advantage of scholarships.

In Korean society, it is not uncommon to see intellectuals and social leaders who call themselves opinion leaders competing to criticize the conglomerates and the top 1 percent of the wealthy.
Contrary to what they say, we often see hypocrisy in the way they look after their own interests and pass on privileges to their children.
It is sometimes accepted that politicians and scholars have a history of real estate speculation and false residence registration.
This is why the examples in 『20 VS 80 Society』 create a sense of uneasiness.

Meanwhile, the author's honest attitude in revealing that he immigrated from England to the United States to escape class society stands out in this book.
The author confesses that he belongs to the top 20 percent, the upper middle class, and urges 'us (the top 20 percent)' to reflect.
It is quite different from the so-called 'out-of-body speech', which maintains a critical attitude toward society while omitting responsibility for oneself as a party concerned.
The author emphasizes the conscience and moral responsibility of the upper-middle class, and says that the policies and measures proposed in the book must begin with self-reflection by the upper-middle class if they are to be implemented.

What makes this book unique is that it goes beyond abstract and moral arguments and vividly exposes the reality of the inequality inflicted on the bottom 80 percent.
This distinction is why the book received significant media attention when it was published in the United States (The Economist's Book of the Year), and why the author was recognized as an important American intellectual (Politico's 50 Most Influential American Thinkers) after its publication.

This book consists of a total of eight chapters.
Chapter 1 summarizes the key arguments presented in the book.
Chapters 2 through 6 deal with the reality of inequality and the mechanisms by which it is maintained, including the gap in education, childcare, social mobility, job opportunities, college admissions, and internship systems.
Chapters 7 and 8 propose realistic policies to address these issues and call for a shift in awareness and effort for change.