How the post-recession years are corroding Americans' income

Even as the U.S. economy improved in the three years after the recession ended, most Americans failed to see any benefit.

That's according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve, which reports some dismal findings about Americans' financial affairs from 2010 through 2013. Median family income fell 5 percent during those years, while the poorest saw "continued substantial declines in average real incomes."

But not everyone suffered, with the central bank's findings reaffirming the warnings sounded by economist Thomas Piketty and other researchers about the country's growing income inequality. While most families failed to get a lift from the improving economy, there was one portion that witnessed gains: The top 10 percent of American earners. For those families, median income rose 2 percent from 2010 to 2013. That meant those families ended last year with $223,000 in annual earnings. All other income brackets witnessed declines in income.

That's caused income inequality to widen, with the top 10 percent of American families earning almost 5 times the overall U.S. median family income in 2013. Just three years before that, the top income bracket made 4.5 times the U.S. median family income.

For families still struggling to get back on their feet after the recession, the survey provides some evidence for why many feel they can't escape a financial stranglehold, despite the nation's sunnier economic growth. Median net worth also slipped, with American families ending 2013 with $81,200 in assets, a decline of 2 percent from 2010.

The recession devastated many homeowners, given widespread declines in housing values. That loss continued in the post-recession years, the Federal Reserve found. The median home value for homeowners was $170,000 in 2013, down from $182,200, based on homeowners' self-reported home values. That decline is "a little surprising," the report notes, "given the widespread perception that house values have stabilized and partially recovered."

That slip might represent a correction from overly optimistic home owners in previous years, the report adds.

The post-recession years also impacted American home ownership, with only 65.2 percent of families owning their own primary residences in 2013, down from 67.3 percent in 2010.

Because fewer Americans owned homes, debt levels declined, the study found. While the percentage of Americans with debts remained about the same, at three-quarters, the average dollar amount of their liabilities slipped to $122,300 in 2013, from $140,000 in 2010.

That's largely due to less mortgage debt, but more American families took on loans for education, and at higher amounts. The average educational loan balance rose 5 percent to $28,900 in 2013, up from $27,500 three years earlier.

Given the rocky financial picture for many Americans -- less income, wealth, and higher education debt -- it might come as no surprise that payday loans and bankruptcy filings jumped in the post-recession years.

Last year, about 4.2 percent of American families relied on payday loans, or short-term loans that carry sky-high interest rates. In 2010, about 3.9 percent of U.S. families turned to such high-rate loans to make ends meet.

And 4.1 percent of American families said they had declared bankruptcy in the five years before 2013, up from 3.6 percent in 2010.