Already More Than a Lost Decade Income and Poverty Trends Continue to Paint a Bleak Picture

[xchrom]

http://www.epi.org/publication/lost-decade-income-poverty-trends-continue/?utm_source=external_embed&utm_medium=chart_embed

***SNIP

We begin by examining the income data released on Sept. 17 by the Census Bureau and then turn to an analysis of the new poverty data.

Income
Drawing upon the Census Bureau’s newly released income data, we find:

Between 2000 and 2012, median income for non-elderly households fell from $64,843 to $57,353, a decline of $7,490, or 11.6 percent.

This income erosion is not simply the result of the financial crisis and its aftermath: The weak labor market from 2000 to 2007 led the median income of non-elderly households to fall significantly, from $64,843 to $62,617, the first time in the post-war period that incomes failed to grow over a business cycle.

Between 2011 and 2012, the median man working full time, full year saw meager earnings growth of 0.4 percent, and the median woman working full time, full year experienced a drop of 0.3 percent. This indicates that persistent high unemployment—and the reduced bargaining power that results from a lack of outside job opportunities—hurt earnings growth even for those with full-time, full-year work.

The median woman working full time, full year saw her earnings grow from $29,261 in 1973 to $38,548 in 2002, and then stagnate for a decade; her earnings stood at $37,791 in 2012. Since 1973, the median man working full time, full year has seen no sustained growth, with his earnings dropping from $51,668 in 1973 to $50,323 in 2002—and falling further over the last 10 years to $49,398 in 2012.

Workers with high levels of education have not been spared from weak earnings trends over the last decade. Between 2002 and 2012, full-time, full-year workers age 25 and over with a college degree saw their wages drop—by 6.8 percent for women and by 8.7 percent for men.

Inequality remained historically high in 2012; however, it did not increase materially from 2011. The top 5 percent is the only group to have recovered its prerecession (2007) income levels; all other groups have even lost further ground in the 2009–2012 recovery.

Racial and ethnic disparities have increased substantially since 2000, as racial and ethnic minorities have seen larger income declines. The median white non-Hispanic household is now bringing in 6.3 percent less in income than it did in 2000, while the declines stand at 11.8 percent for the median Hispanic household and 14.8 percent less for the median black household.

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. kick