Posted on 07/26/2014 9:42:47 AM PDT by quesney
Economic inequality in the United States has been receiving a lot of attention. But it’s not merely an issue of the rich getting richer. The typical American household has been getting poorer, too.
The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation. Those are the figures for a household at the median point in the wealth distribution — the level at which there are an equal number of households whose worth is higher and lower. But during the same period, the net worth of wealthy households increased substantially.
The Russell Sage study also examined net worth at the 95th percentile. (For households at that level, 94 percent of the population had less wealth and 4 percent had more.) It found that for this well-do-do slice of the population, household net worth increased 14 percent over the same 10 years. Other research, by economists like Edward Wolff at New York University, has shown even greater gains in wealth for the richest 1 percent of households.
For households at the median level of net worth, much of the damage has occurred since the start of the last recession in 2007. Until then, net worth had been rising for the typical household, although at a slower pace than for households in higher wealth brackets. But much of the gain for many typical households came from the rising value of their homes. Exclude that housing wealth and the picture is worse: Median net worth began to decline even earlier.
“The housing bubble basically hid a trend of declining financial wealth at the median that began in 2001,” said Fabian T. Pfeffer, the University of Michigan professor...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Notice the Slimes does not invite reader comment.
The decline continues.
For all the talk about the ‘income gap’ Democrats are the ones accelerating it.
Bringing in illegals will further hurt blacks in particular. But they keep voting Democrat no matter what, so the leftists don’t care.
This makes no sense. The average home cost over $300,000 and the average salary is around $70k so how can the average household only be worth $56K?
“Notice the Slimes does not invite reader comment.”
of course - why invite discussion over why it’s happening
If you include the value of their govt benefits, the entitlement army is actually doing quite well these days.
Until the markets puke on the fake money used to pay these benefits, the party in America will rock on.
Of course they don’t. Especially these days when it always seems conservative thought dominate those comment boards. Most of the Left is silent there, save for the few that hang on to be outdone on comments 10 to 1.
We are just about there.
At least Levin offers solutions.
If you are able to save steadily, you should have a 10% increase every year.
I have nearly tripled in this time period. The only year I was down was 2008.
Of course, the poor guys who lost their job in 2008 and never found another one are screwed.
Well you remember back in the prosperous era of 2007?
The prosperous family had a McMansion with negative real equity and two leased luxury SUVs.
Sometimes things aren’t what they appear to be. Just like the financial condition of our fedgov.
“This makes no sense. The average home cost over $300,000 and the average salary is around $70k so how can the average household only be worth $56K?”
I think a far lower percentage own their own homes.
And you can thank socialist policies and the decline of the Christian work ethic.
Hooray for Progressives! Well on the way to completion of their goal: Destruction of liberty everywhere!
“This makes no sense. The average home cost over $300,000 and the average salary is around $70k so how can the average household only be worth $56K?”
...and average income is in the 30k’s...and falling too...
They don’t own the home - the bank does.
And apparently they don’t save much.
Sad.
People save nothing, they leverage these houses with 5% down payments and then borrow more against ‘equity’ from inflated appraisals.
The new ‘America’. I’ve got to have it NOW, and when the plan derails I’ll get a bailout.
“People save nothing, they leverage these houses with 5% down payments and then borrow more against ‘equity’ from inflated appraisals. The new ‘America’. I’ve got to have it NOW, and when the plan derails I’ll get a bailout.”
Yup - and bill it to the other guy - the one who doesn’t vote (kids, grandkids, China, etc.)
Credit. The average homeowner has a mortgage. His equity fluctuates in a levered fashion with real estate values.
Keep Obama in president you know! Gimmedat Obamaphone.
Currently atop Drudge, right next to invasion of border headlines. I hope it stays there for awhile.
How much you want to bet it has gotten only worse since 2008?
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