Are families with children getting wealthier?

There appears to be a trend underway that is positive for family entertainment centers, especially the FEC ones that target families with children. The percentage of children belonging to higher income families is increasing.

This graph shows changes from 1980 to 2012 based on the income of children's families using the poverty threshold as the measure. For example, the bottom blue area shows the percent of children that belonged to families with incomes between 0% and 199% of the poverty threshold. For a family of 4 with 2 children, the upper income limit for that group was $46,500 in 2012 (the threshold varies based on family composition). That group basically remained stable in percentage over the years.

The graph clearly shows the children in middle-income families (between $46.5K and $93.1K for family of four in 2012) decreased from 41% to 29% of all children. What is very positive is that the percentage of children from higher income families ($93.1K+ for a family of four) increased from 16.6% to 27.0% of all children.

Basically this indicates that there is a shrinking middle-class family market and that the higher income families with children, the ones with the incomes who can afford to go out, are the ones to target.