Family Net Worth Drops to Level of Early ’90s, Fed Says

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — The recent financial crisis left the median American family in 2010 with no more wealth than in the early 1990s, erasing almost two decades of accumulated prosperity, the Federal Reserve said on Monday.

The median family, richer than half of the nation’s families and poorer than the other half, had a net worth of $77,300 in 2010, down from $126,400 in 2007, the Fed said. The crash of housing prices explained three-quarters of the loss.

This vast loss of wealth was compounded by a loss of income, as the earnings of the median family fell by 7.7 percent over the same period.

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The losses of income and wealth fell most heavily on the middle class. Families with incomes in the bottom and top 20 percent of the population sustained smaller losses on a percentage basis than those families in the middle 60 percent.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/business/economy/family-net-worth-drops-to-level-of-early-90s-fed-says.html