America’s middle class: Poorer than you think, By Tami Luhby, June 11, 2014, CNN Money: “Rich Americans. That’s our global reputation.The numbers seem to back it up. Americans’ average wealth tops $301,000 per adult, enough to rank us fourth on the latest Credit Suisse Global Wealth report. But that figure doesn’t tell you how the middle class American is doing. Americans’ median wealth is a mere $44,900 per adult — half have more, half have less. That’s only good enough for 19th place, below Japan, Canada, Australia and much of Western Europe. ‘Americans tend to think of their middle class as being the richest in the world, but it turns out, in terms of wealth, they rank fairly low among major industrialized countries,’ said Edward Wolff. . .”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty