Thursday, December 18, 2014

Wot recovery?

 The fact that America's richest households are financially head and shoulders above everyone else isn't exactly news, but now, it seems, the gap between them and the “middle-class” is the widest it's been since the Federal Reserve began collecting data 30 years ago. Yes, the Pew Research Center has found that in 2013, the median wealth of rich families was 6.6 times that of middle-income families, and 70 times that of low-income households. Since 1983, the upper tier has doubled its median wealth.


While high-income households have been climbing steadily up the wealth ladder over the last three years, middle-income households have been paralyzed since the recession, unable for to make up for what was lost. (Middle- and low-income household wealth fell by around 40 percent in 2007, while median wealth of the upper tier declined by 17 percent—so the rich didn't have as much catching up to do). Between 2010 and 2013, America's high-income households have raised their median wealth by an average of $44,000, while middle-income wealth has remained stagnant. A majority of Americans (and especially, racial and ethnic minorities) have yet to really start their recoveries. Their wealth has receded to early 1990s-levels, and so far, it's staying there.

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