Comparing The Middle Class In The 1950's And Today

Between 1945 until 1973, America underwent the Golden Age for the middle class. During this period, the country ended a major war and the great depression, which made the financial climate conducive for the middle class. A substantial increase

Life today is very fast-paced. Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere and will push you out of the way to get there, like it's some kind of race. In our personal lives, we have our cell phones, and maybe a home phone, scheduled play dates for our kids, microwaves, satellite TV, home security systems that don't involve dogs, solar landscape lighting, automatic underground sprinkler systems for our lawns, and compact fluorescent lights to replace the incandescent bulbs that waste energy. In the business world, you have meetings that you can attend by using a video phone, PowerPoint presentations to help you get your point across at the meetings you can't get out of, instant messaging to speak to clients and other businesses around the

The middle class saw benefits from the new era and seized the opportunity. The middle class allowed the working class to lift them into the upper class by creating many jobs in their factories and businesses. The middle class

The Cold War brought about economic prosperity in the United States. The size of the middle-class increased, unemployment was low, and the automobile industry flourished. “During the 1950’s businesses expanded rapidly. By 1956, the majority of Americans no longer held blue-collar, or industrial jobs...instead services in fields like sales, advertising, insurance and communications.”1 Jobs

* The middle class lay in the middle and was the group of people in society that had bigger better houses on their own block of land and were quite well off when it came to money and resources.

American middle class life was greatly influenced throughout 1870-1917. There were many profound changes, however the American industrialization and urbanization were the most rapid and unquestionably the most important. The industrialist brought forth household names that are still around today such as Swift, Armour, Westinghouse, Pillsbury, Pullman, Rocketfeller, Carnegie, and Duke. Due to the rapid movement of industrialization, so began a movement of urbanization. Between 1860 and 1910, urban population increased sevenfold and by the 1920’s more than half of all Americans lived in cities. Along with the cities came more use of electricity, electric lights, telephones, and eventually appliances. Appliances

The gap between the upper class and the lower class is growing; the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Instead of helping the lower class, the upper class is spending their money on fancy houses and material objects. For example, in the outskirts of cities, the rich business owners are building large mansions to live in. On the other hand, the lower class live in tiny tenements in the heart of the city. Many are unemployed and starving. In addition, between 1865 and 1900 only a small percent of Americans grew wealthy showing that wealth is only being passed through families not gained. However this growing gap between rich and poor has allowed the growth of the middle class. This middle class made up of doctors, lawyers and other will help the will hopefully help lessen the gap between

Nowadays, the middle class is shrinking, while majority of people are either moving into the lower or upper classes. This is due to the major economic and policy changes that have occurred throughout the past thirty years. Based on the Basic Economy Security Tables, one in four full-time working-age adults are not earning enough income to meet economic needs for themselves or their families. This is a serious problem in America today, the fact that the median income today is six hundred dollars less than it was in 1989 is proof of this epidemic. It is much harder now, than ever, to work your way into the middle class, much less stay there. The percentage income growth since 1967 for the top 5 percent of earners is 88%, top 20 percent of earners grew 70%, and middle-income households only grew 20%. (Camp) In simpler terms, the upper classes income has increased tremendously, while middle-income households have seen very little growth in their income. Since the middle class is not receiving any income growth, it is declining and moving towards the lower class. It is not nearly as easy as it was thirty years ago to get a decent job and make

The middle class usually does not fare any better in America. The middle class, like the poor minorities, do not usually move up from their current position. This is a problem for those of color. It is no secret that black or minorities are more likely to suffer in an American economy. “ Just as striking,however, is the fact that black children born into middle-quintile families are also twice as likely to be downwardly mobile as middle income whites ” (Reeves). Blacks are at a disadvantage in this country when it comes to upward mobility. Whites on average are doing a lot better than other races with an “average of 57,009”(Perlberg). Blacks are even behind in income. “Large racial and gender gaps in the U.S. remain, even as they have narrowed in some cases over the years. Among full- and part-time workers in the U.S., blacks in 2015 earned just 75% as much as whites in median hourly earnings and women earned 83% as much as men”(Patten). The gap between whites and minorities in America keep the dream farther and farther away. Since the middle class can 't grow it means that in the end the American is a stretch.

Families grew apart and they had to travel to cities to find work to support their families. There were many opportunities and often the manufacturing jobs paid more money. They were finally able to achieve the “American Dream”. The Great Depression made things financially difficult for all members of the family and basically everyone could only afford to take care if their immediate families. The Social Security Act was created to fill the void left for families unable to take care of their elderly, widowed, orphaned children and disabled.

In 1978, the economy started suffering in the US, because the middle class was getting weaker, and inequality started increasing. According to Reich, the middle class is directly associated with the economy, because 70 percent of the economy is summoned up of consumer spending. The middle class is the foundation of consumer spending. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, wages

The way of life before World War I (WWI) and the way of life after greatly differ. This new way of living is the indirect cause of every direct cause of the Great Depression. During the Industrial Revolution, or time before WWI, people all over the country worked, not only men but also boys, because “the Industrial Revolution transitioned the United States from a rural to an urban society” (The Industrial Revolution in the United States, 2014). They worked long hours and had low pay. According to statistics, “most workers in the worked over 10-hour a day, yet earned between 20 to 40 percent less than the minimum pay necessary for a decent life” (The Industrial Revolution in the United States, 2014). These people’s lives revolved around having very few money and only having necessities. People already had a hard time coming across food, so when WWI began, obtaining food became a big problem. This was not only because they need to feed soldiers, but also their allies’ soldiers. During this time, farming had to expand to feed the citizens of the Unite States and of the Allies. Farming expanded, but a lot of the crops and food went to away from US citizens and there became a need for rationing. Food had to be rationed by the government. The rationing was called “Food Will Win the War” (Food Will Win the War: On the Homefront in World War I, 2014) to encourage voluntary food conservation. It was said to have been voluntary because the government did not want to force businesses

Of this group, about 1/3rd belongs to the upper-middle class. The annual income of person belonging to this group is $70-$75,000. The jobs that the typical upper-middle class person holds would have a prestige rating of 65 or higher. 2/3rd?s of the middle-class population is the lower-middle class. White-collared individuals make up the majority of this class, earning anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 a year. Lower-middle class Americans have a set standard of priorities. They take pride in the fact that they are financially stable, and promote hard work, and press on education. Without education, the members feel that they would not be where they are economically, and preach the importance to their children so that they, too, can live a lifestyle very similar to that of theirs (Norton).

proved to be too much change at one time. The middle class were the wealthy

Following the end of World War II, the American economy found its way out of depression. Wartime production aided the economy and spiked the country’s spending power. From the late 1940s, people have been accustomed to spending the money they have on everything they want and need. People then started to figure out and believe that this type of spending, consumerism, improved the economy. The items that were being bought were also different than they were before. “At war's end, the items people most desired included televisions, cars, washing machines, refrigerators, toasters, and vacuum cleaners: the machines that would help