
How much did the Great Recession set back American families? One answer, provided by the Federal Reserve last week (PDF) , is 38.8 percent. That’s how much the median net worth of American families fell from 2007 to 2010 – or in dollar terms, from $126,400 to $77,300, according to data from the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances. The average drop was smaller, at 14.7 percent.