Despite rise in inequality, climbing the economic ladder "hasn't gotten harder" since the 1970s

`` the fact the top 1 percent are pulling away has had little effect on the ability of those in the bottom fifth to rise to the top fifth, the study found.'' -- of course, the very fact of the increased skew of income means that either some group has found it harder to get to some higher segment (perhaps mostly the top 1%); or worse, that it is more likely people will fall to a lower cohort.