Wealth in pre-industrial European society was concentrated in the hands of the few, while poverty was common. In Florence, Italy, in 1427, 10% of the population—merchants, landowners, nobility— controlled 68% of wealth. This is not much different from the United States today where, in 2007, the top 10% of the population control 71% of the wealth. And in England in 1700, one contemporary estimated that of a total population of 5.3 million people, nearly 25% were living in poverty. In San Jose, CA, recent official data shows that, as of 2009, 11.5% of residents lived in poverty. And 20% of children grow up in poverty in the state of California.