Decision 2012: Family Net Worth Drops Nearly 40%

The collapse of the housing market has sent the net worth of the American family into a tailspin. The net worth for the very middle, or the median, fell from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010, a 39 percent drop. Incomes took a big hit, too, with the median earnings sinking nearly 8 percent to $45,800. Though incomes fell for those at the very top and the very bottom, it was nothing like what happened to the middle class which lost two decades of economic progress in just three years.

Class discussion: Find news reports on the plummeting wealth and income of the middle class and the housing crash. When did the housing bubble burst? What caused the boom and bust in housing prices? Over the last 30 years, how has the income of the middle class changed compared with incomes at the top and the bottom? How has family wealth changed at the top, middle and bottom over the same three decades? What do the Republican and Democratic candidates propose to help middle class families? What would you do?