From Pew Research Center – A recovery no better than the recession

“The median income of American households decreased by as much in the two years after the official end of the Great Recession as it did during the recession itself. The latest estimates from the Census Bureau show that the median income for U.S. households in 2011 was $50,054. In 2009, the year the Great Recession ended, the median income of U.S. households had been $52,195 (in 2011 dollars). Thus, in the two years since the end of the recession, median household income has fallen by 4.1%.

The decrease in household income from 2009 to 2011 almost exactly equaled the decrease in income in the two years of the recession. During the Great Recession, the median U.S. household income (in 2011 dollars) dropped from $54,489 in 2007 to $52,195 in 2009, a loss of 4.2%. By this yardstick, the recovery from the Great Recession is bypassing the nation’s households.”

and from Pew Research Center – A third of Americans now say they are in the lower classes

“The percentage of Americans who say they are in the lower-middle or lower class has risen from a quarter of the adult population to about a third in the past four years, according to a national survey of 2,508 adults by the Pew Research Center.

Not only has the lower class grown, but its demographic profile also has shifted. People younger than 30 are disproportionately swelling the ranks of the self-defined lower classes. The shares of Hispanics and whites who place themselves in the lower class also are growing.”

Several comments

  • This is not “encouraging data” (unless you hate the US), the title is sarcastic.
  • Doomsday predictions aside, the world seems to be changing rapidly and fundamentally before our eyes. Demographics, financial power and political power  are changing along racial, religious and gender lines in an amazing rate. America’s power is declining. The nuclear family seems to be a relic of the past. More and more men do not have enough prestige to be attractive to women and are relying more and more on swagger. These are strange new times and young men need guidance and help more than ever to have power over their surroundings and their life. The lies ooze from the TV, music and movies.

(BTW, I significantly slowed the rate of posts lately and it going to stay this way. I’m currently entering a new professional phase in my life and I had to suspend work on the ‘Guide for a young Patriarch.’ When I’ll have time to continue the work on the guide, it will be the focus of my free time, not this blog.)