The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground

For instance, the vocal Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump addressed his rhetoric to middle-class men, and his surge in GOP polls was due to middle-income supporters that do not own a college degree. Although Fuller is “uneasy with some of Trump’s policies”, she feels he “overall would be good for this nation”, and would reduce taxes for the middle class.

Many analysts and policymakers regard the shift as worrisome for economic and social stability.

Among racial and ethnic groups, blacks advanced but were more likely to be in lower income groups and less likely in the upper tier than whites were.

The problem, not necessarily with the report but how we talk about it, is that there is very little consideration of income mobility. It is usually the middle class going out and spending money, but as their numbers decline, so too does their impact on the economy.

Pew also notes there has been an increase in the proportion of Americans living in the lower income class of four percentage points, however, they are still much better off in dollars and cents terms than their equivalents in the 1970s.

Thanks to factory closings and other economic factors, the country now has 120.8 million adults living in middle-income households, the study found. That compares with the 121.3 million who are living in either upper- or lower-income households. In that sense, the nonpartisan group said, “the shift represents economic progress”.

Researchers found the middle class – defined by Pew as households that earn two-thirds to double the nation’s median income – now makes up 50 percent of the nation’s population, down from 61 percent in 1971. A family of three, for example, would be considered middle income if its total annual income ranged from about $42,000 to $126,000.

The findings were based on analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. In 1983, those in the top income tier held three times as much wealth as those in the middle tier. But the Great Recession and subsequent slow recovery have shaken that image. Upper income households have been increasing since 1971, and more middle class families have been moving into the higher end of the middle class group. From the Pew report, it’s easy to see why more multinational corporations are targeting the growing middle class in other countries such as China and Brazil for products and services with less of a focus on the middle class in the United States. But the Great Recession and the housing crash, according to the study, especially hurt middle-income Americans, whose financial portfolios are more dependent on the value of their homes.

“Americans are always kind of reluctant to embrace open-class warfare”, Egan said. But “if more Americans are under the idea of placing themselves at the bottom, you’ll see politicians follow”, he told Tribune.

According to a study, the collective number of low and high-income individuals in America has surpassed that of the middle class.

Since 1970, upper class households saw their median income soar 47% to $174,600 in 2014. The median marks the halfway point.

That is to say, part of the reason that the middle class is disappearing is that they are succeeding and jumping to the next bracket. The ranks of the upper class are growing faster, according to Pew’s research. The Downey, Calif., couple, who have two children, ages 4 and 6, gross about $110,000 between them, not counting benefits, such as health care insurance.

The income it takes to be middle income varies by household size, with smaller households requiring less to support the same lifestyle as larger households.