essentially this share of the population can be thought of as not enjoying the benefits of the postwar economic growth boom which over the period saw average real gdp growth exceed on an annualised basis according to statistics available from the us department of commerces bureau of economic analysis the same data also shows that personal consumption expenditure over this period increased roughly annually and durable goods consumption increased annually over the period so clearly some part of the population enjoyed benefits of the postwar economic expansion it is clear from the stability of relative poverty figures over this period however that this expansion did nothing to bring the poorest fifth of the population closer to the living standard enjoyed by the middle of the income distribution