MarketWatch: Middle class running as fast as it can

[marmar]

By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch





WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — This recession has strangled the American middle class, but it was in a weakened state long before anyone heard of subprime mortgages.

The great middle of American society has been falling for 30 years or more, a product of vast economic, social and political forces, both foreign and domestic. It won’t be restored with one congressional election, or even a presidential one. Its troubles are much more serious than that.

The Census Bureau reported this week that the inflation-adjusted median household income had fallen 0.7% in 2009 to the lowest level since 1997. The typical household earned just under $50,000 a year. Read more about the increase in poverty last year.

The Great Recession has taken away the small gains made during the 1980s and 1990s and ripped open wounds that were festering for 30, 35, or 40 years. The middle class is more anxious now than at any time in generations. The worries aren’t new; they are just on another level.

After a great leap forward in the three decades after World War II, the typical American family has barely improved its financial status in the three decades since the 1970s. Any increase in income has been largely due to working longer hours, including sending Mom out into the world to earn a paycheck. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/middle-class-running-as-fast-as-it-can-2010-09-17

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. This is a flat out lie.

"The Census Bureau reported this week that the inflation-adjusted median household income had fallen 0.7% in 2009 to the lowest level since 1997. The typical household earned just under $50,000 a year. Read more about the increase in poverty last year."

The median household income has NOTHING to do with the 'typical household'. The median is a calculation that includes the super-rich and the entirely government-dependent poverty stricken. The '
typical' household is really a two income household, with each salary being between 30-35k. That typical 65k household - sitting uncomfortably above the 50k median - therefore sees themselves as being 'upper middle class' - when real upper-middle would start considerably higher. The 50k median is dragged down by the great numbers of single-income households which also make 30-35k, with the truly impoverished in their great numbers being balanced by the 5% over 250k households.

[Massacure]

2. I think you are confusing mean and median.

"With the truly impoverished in their great numbers being balanced by the 5% over 250k households."

If you were talking about mean, I would agree with this statement.