The Median Household Is Now Poorer Than in 1984
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/07/31/middle_class_poorer_than_in_1984_housing_wealth_has_crash_debt_has_risen.html
You're probably aware that a great chunk of America is poorer today than before the housing crash. But recently, the Russel Sage Foundation delivered a reminder that middle-class wealth is in fact still lower than it was a generation ago. As shown on the graph below, the median household in 2013 was worth about 20 percent less than in 1984.
As Allison Schrager writes over at Bloomberg Businessweek, middle-class families are poorer today than in the Reagan days for two main reasons. For starters, housing collapsedand for most Americans, their home is their biggest source of savings by far. Second, household debt has risen significantly over time. Because wealth is just the value of what we own minus what we owe, the typical family is now worth less than 30 years ago.