You are correct about the chart, but if you look at the second and third blog-posts, you will see how family structure has changed, and how it will have a similar impact on measured household wealth. I wish that I had a similar wealth distributions graph handy, but this was the best source I could remember, and I think it serves to adequately demonstrate the point.
It’s a fair critique, but it really doesn’t come close to explaining the 2003–2013 data.
The ratio of 95th percentile household net worth to median household net worth doubled from ~9x to ~18x. That’s not just some artifact of changing family structures. That’s a massive increase in wealth inequality.
Basically, your point is interesting, but in context it’s mostly a distraction. (But I agree that a chart showing individual rather than household wealth would be nice to see.)
I think you are right that those blogs do not fully explain what happened after 2003. It seems like the measured wealth dip (amongst all groups) from 2007-current is quite consistent with losses due to the drop in housing prices from the great recession (though I have no solid data to back this up). Lower income households tend to have a greater proportion of their wealth tied up in housing (and with less home equity due to a variety of factors including low down payments in those years), so they were likely disproportionately (negatively) impacted.
I am not sure what could explain the changes between 2003-2007, though I would be very interested to hear any ideas.
Comments
Your chart shows income distribution, while the linked study is talking about net worth.
You are correct about the chart, but if you look at the second and third blog-posts, you will see how family structure has changed, and how it will have a similar impact on measured household wealth. I wish that I had a similar wealth distributions graph handy, but this was the best source I could remember, and I think it serves to adequately demonstrate the point.
It’s a fair critique, but it really doesn’t come close to explaining the 2003–2013 data.
The ratio of 95th percentile household net worth to median household net worth doubled from ~9x to ~18x. That’s not just some artifact of changing family structures. That’s a massive increase in wealth inequality.
Basically, your point is interesting, but in context it’s mostly a distraction. (But I agree that a chart showing individual rather than household wealth would be nice to see.)
I think you are right that those blogs do not fully explain what happened after 2003. It seems like the measured wealth dip (amongst all groups) from 2007-current is quite consistent with losses due to the drop in housing prices from the great recession (though I have no solid data to back this up). Lower income households tend to have a greater proportion of their wealth tied up in housing (and with less home equity due to a variety of factors including low down payments in those years), so they were likely disproportionately (negatively) impacted.
I am not sure what could explain the changes between 2003-2007, though I would be very interested to hear any ideas.