Years after the Great Recession ended, 46.5 million Americans are still living in poverty, according to a Census Bureau report released Tuesday.

Meanwhile, median household income fell slightly to $51,017 a year in 2012, down from $51,100 in 2011 — a change the Census Bureau does not consider statistically significant.

But taking a wider view reveals a larger problem: income has tumbled since the recession hit, and is still 8.3% below where it was in 2007.

‘We’ve had [economic] growth, but it hasn’t really reached everyday Americans,’ said Elise Gould, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. ‘It’s a lost decade, maybe more.’

This long-term decline in income is troubling to economists, especially as the middle and lower classes have fared considerably worse than the rich. Since 1967, Americans right in the middle of the income curve have seen their earnings rise 19%, while those in the top 5% have seen a 67% gain. Rising inequality is seldom a sign of good social stability.

Americans were the richest in 1999, when median household income was $56,080, adjusted for inflation.

Who is earning the most: Young people continued to struggle last year, with those under the age of 35 seeing slight drops in income while those […]