Household net worth declines 35 percent

In 2011, North Dakota had the best economy in the U.S. according to AlterNet.

Although nobody likes hearing more bad economic news, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today that median household net worth declined 35 percent between 2005 and 2010, from $102,844 to $66,740. 

All educational groups also experienced declines. For example, those with a high school diploma saw their median net worth fall 39 percent and those with a bachelor’s degree experienced a 32 percent decline. “The overall decline in net worth reflects drops in housing values and stock market indices,” said Census Bureau economist Alfred Gottschalck.

The Bureau had a bit of good news, however. Excluding home equity, median household net worth increased by 8 percent between 2009 and 2010, from $13,859 to $15,000.

Last week, Duke Economist Dr. Sandy Darity urged those concerned about the economy to read two articles posted in the New York Times and The Mail Tribune.  "I think the article in the NYTimes three days ago on the collapse of household wealth in the aftermath of the Great Recession was pretty dramatic -- and worth extensive discussion," Darity said.

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

and
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120614/BIZ/206140306/-1/NEWSMAP

Disclaimer: These data were collected in the Survey of Income and Program Participation. As in all surveys, these data are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. For further information on the source of the data and accuracy of the estimates, including standard errors and confidence intervals, go to <http://www.sipp.census.gov/sipp/source.html>. All dollar figures are in 2010 constant dollars.

Photo by Bobjgalindo - 2004. GNU Free Documentation License

 

©2012 Tomi Johnson. All rights reserved.