Inside the Middle Class: Bad Times Hit the Good Life

Notes: The household debt service ratio is an estimate of the ratio of debt payments to disposable personal income. Debt payments consist of the estimated required payments on outstanding mortgage and consumer debt.
Source: Federal Reserve Board, Household Debt Service and Financial Obligations Ratios (downloaded from http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/housedebt/default.htm on March 7, 2008)
Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Five Years Ago? The Trend Since 1964.
Are You Better Off Than Your Children?
Are You Better Off Than Your Children?
Are You Better Off Than Your Parents?
Are You Better Off Than Your Parents?
As Incomes Rise, So Do Estimates of the Cost of a Middle Class Lifestyle
Comparing the Present to the Past, by Income Group
Composition of the Aggregate Debt-to-Income Ratio: 1983-2004
Debt Problems: Ever Been There?
Demographic Characteristics of Middle Income Adults, 1970 and 2006
Demographics by Socioeconomic Class
Differing Priorities of Middle Class Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics
Economic Characteristics by Socioeconomic Class
Government Responsibilities, Through a Partisan Lens
Government Responsibilities, Through a Partisan Lens
Home Ownership Among the Middle Class
How Important is Being Married to the Middle Class?
How Important is Being Married to the Middle Class?
How Important is Being Wealthy to the Middle Class?
How Important is Charity or Volunteering to the Middle Class?
How Important is Charity or Volunteering to the Middle Class?
How Important is Free Time to the Middle Class?
How Important is Having a Successful Career to the Middle Class?
How Important is Having Children to the Middle Class?
How Important is Having Children to the Middle Class?
How Important is Living a Religious Life to the Middle Class?
How Important is Living a Religious Life to the Middle Class?
How the Middle Class Sees The Future
How the Middle Class Sees the Future
How the Middle Class Sees Their Lives
Importance of Being Wealthy, by Class
Importance of Living a Religious Life, by Views on Gay Marriage
Importance of Marriage, by Views of Gay Marriage
Income Status of Adults, by Age, 1970 and 2006
Income, by Middle Class Occupations
Labor Force Participation Rates of Mothers with Children Under 18: 1975-2005
Life Priorities Vary Little by Class
Life's Priorities: Time Over Money
Marital Discord and Money Matters
Mean Ratings of Present Life, by Income Group
Median Household Income, by Income Group, 1969 and 2006
Median Household Income, Unadjusted and Adjusted for Household Size: 1970-2006
Median Household Income: 1970-2006
Median Net Worth of Lower, Middle and Upper Income Families
Median Size of New Single-Family Houses: 1980 to 2006
Middle Class Priorities, by Age
Middle Class Priorities, by Gender
Middle Class: What Does the Next Five Years Hold for You?
Monthly Bill Paying: Click, Check or Cash?
Moving Forward, Backwards and Sideways
Percent Difference in Median Weekly Wage of College Graduates and High School Graduates
Percentage Change in Real Median Family Expenditures
Percentage Change in Real Median Household Income, by Decade
Priorities and Values by Socioeconomic Class
Quality of Life and Mobility by Socioeconomic Class
Quality of Life, 1964-2008: The Public Rates Their Present, Past and Future
Ratings for U.S. Economy and Own Financial Situation, 1992-2008
Sales Price of Existing Single-Family Homes and Household Income: 1970 to 2006
Section 1: Does Wealth Come from Hard Work or Good Connections?
Section 1: Intergenerational Mobility: Looking Backward
Section 1: Intergenerational Mobility: Looking Forward
Section 1: What I Have, What Most People Have
Section 2: Sales Price of Existing Single-Family Homes and Household Income: 1970 to 2006
Section 2: …And More Trouble is Coming
Share of Married-Couple Households with Two Earners: 1970-2006
The Importance of Free Time by Age
The Median Debt-to-Asset Ratio
The Middle Class Blues, 1986 and 2008
Total Mortgage Debt and Mean House Prices: 1981 to 2006
Wealth Situation and Attitudes Towards Finances
Which Class Do Republicans Favor?