Even without corruption, "hard work" doesn't correlate to success. I do good work with a specialized skillset, but I don't work particularly hard.
People who replace roofs on houses work very very hard and make much less money than I do, and those income levels aren't likely to change too much throughout our lives.
Income is generally much more correlated to the market value of your skills and experience than with effort, and gaining those skills and experiences has a lot to do with your background and ability to do things like attend college, work on relevant side projects / hobbies, take low pay / unpaid internships, etc.
Ability to invest capital into things like business ownership, investment, real estate, etc. is another factor.
As cost of living increases relative to wages, that leaves less room for savings to pull yourself up from being a wage worker to an owner or investor.
People who replace roofs on houses work very very hard and make much less money than I do, and those income levels aren't likely to change too much throughout our lives.
Income is generally much more correlated to the market value of your skills and experience than with effort, and gaining those skills and experiences has a lot to do with your background and ability to do things like attend college, work on relevant side projects / hobbies, take low pay / unpaid internships, etc.
Ability to invest capital into things like business ownership, investment, real estate, etc. is another factor.
As cost of living increases relative to wages, that leaves less room for savings to pull yourself up from being a wage worker to an owner or investor.