How 56.5 Million Households Live

The recent American Consumer Survey had some thought provoking data regarding the typical American household. Wages over the past decade have been stagnant. At least that is what is propagated in the common datasets but in reality, not only has income not grown it has actually declined. The U.S. dollar during this time has been crushed as well. So incomes moving in a horizontal fashion may appear to be steady for Americans, but in reality the purchasing power has fallen due to inflation (not recently) and the declining dollar. Think of the rising cost of housing, healthcare, food, and automobiles. In the last decade, even after the housing bust, prices are still higher yet incomes still lag. (more)