Household incomes in the U.S. dropped more in the two years after the recession ended than during it, new research shows.
Household income in the US fell by 6.7 per cent between June 2009, when the recession officially ended, and June 2011, according to a study by two former US Census Bureau officials.
The study based on monthly census surveys rather than annual data, also found that household income fell 3.2 per cent during the recession from December 2007 to June 2009.
The rate of pay per hour of employed people has also failed to keep pace with inflation, as prices of oil and food have inched higher.
Mr. Green and Mr. Coder, who both worked at the Census Bureau for more than 25 years also found that income declined substantially for households headed by people under age 62, but rose 4.7 per cent for homes headed by those aged 65 to 74 who were not working.
Family households generally saw greater drops in income than other households, and men living alone experienced a bigger decline than women living alone.
The type of employment also made a difference, the study showed. Incomes dropped by 4.3 per cent in households headed by private-sector wage workers and 3.9 per cent for government-sector workers.
Self-employed people were hit hardest with a 12.3 per cent decline.
In a separate study, Henry S. Farber, an economics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey, found that people who lost jobs in the recession and later found work again made an average of 17.5 percent less than they had in their old jobs. |