After the Financial Crisis of 2008 the economic status of the country began taking a toll on the middle class. As the years have progressed, the increase in inequality without any aid to these hard working middle class families has grown to be a problem for Americans. Currently, the attitude of the American middle class is that they are being ignored by the United States government. This comes from many factors that have diminished the value and definition of a middle class American, in addition to forcing these Americans to struggle to make ends meet. The sense of pride of being a working middle class American has lost its appeal and has changed the predisposition of what it means to live above the means. Middle class families are struggling to provide necessities for their children. They are constantly worrying about how they will stretch their incomes and provide a comfortable lifestyle for their families. In order to provide immediate relief to the middle class action must be taken directly by the United States government. This concern for direct impact is shown with the initiatives by Democratic party leaders to aid the middle class. The Democrats have been strong proponents of pushing the middle class back up to its previous standard. They have actively defended the middle class, showing their support for immediate reform that would benefit specifically middle class workers. The middle class has continued to shrink and without action taken immediately this problem
The American middle class is supposed to be living the American dream life. They would be able to afford a home, 1-2 cars, take 1-2 vacations within a year, be able to send their children to college and live comfortable lives. Middle class Americans would shop stores such as Wal-Mart and Kmart and splurge on department
During the past couple of decades, the decline in the middle class has been associated to the political agenda of the Republican Party. By ending governmental subsidies and other programs created to build the middle class, has ultimately ceased the growth. However, realizing the importance of the middle class to our fragile economic platform, the Democratic and Independent political parties are desperately trying to create and revamp the middle class
In other words, America has a widening gap between its wealthy and poor. As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, there is a problem emerging: the disappearance of the middle class. Low-wage workers continue to fall behind those who make higher wages, and this only widens the gap between the two. There has been an economic boom in the United States, which has made the country more prosperous than it has ever been. That prosperity does not reach all people; it seems to only favor the rich. Rising economic segregation has taken away many opportunities for the poor to rise in America today. The poor may find that the economic boom has increased their income; however, as their income increase so does the prices they must for their living expenses (Dreier, Mollenkopf, & Swanstrom 19).
In Edward McClelland’s essay “RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013,” McClelland discusses to his audience that the middle class is slowly vanishing and soon enough we will only be left with the rich and the poor. Throughout the essay, McClelland uses various examples to demonstrate how the middle class will no longer exist. McClelland talks about how education is vital for pursuing a job at a reasonable pay that a person can live off of. Before, people were able to leave high school and go straight into a job with a pay that could support them. Nowadays, the same jobs that were supporting people before require a lot more education and still aren’t giving enough money that will allow them to live comfortably. Even though there are still jobs people can thrive at that will make more money without a serious education , the middle class is struggling to make it economically, because it is harder to find a job without education and financially it’s harder to make ends meet.
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 success of the up-and-coming middle-class made America the place many dreamed to be. It is this similar type of journey of America’s riches to rags history that one will come to recognize has occurred many times throughout the nation. In “RIP The Middle Class-1946-2013”
In Robert Reich documentary “Inequality for All” he makes a compelling discussion about the serious crises that the United States faces due the widening economic gap. He looks to raise awareness of the U.S. economic gap between the rich and poor. According to Reich the widening divide in America is real and growing. Income levels at the middle and labor class is stagnant and are at it’s lowest levels compared to upper class incomes since the beginning of WWII and is growing wider each year. Reich suggests that the economy runs more smoothly when the middle class has jobs with fair wages, when unions are strong, and when middle class workers have some extra money to spend if possible when the government uses the tax policy properly and when it raises the minimum wage regularly to control the income gap between labor and management. In other words Reich argues that economically healthy middle and labor class equality is the foundation of a thriving economy and is necessary to maintaining a sound national infrastructure and educational system within
This “middle-class nation” is struggling to support all those who live in its borders and the misconceptions about wealth are vastly overrated. Furthermore, the idea of wealth and stability is incorrect, and there is a very sharp contrast between the rich and poor in the country. As the richest twenty percent of American hold ninety percent of the total household of the total household wealth in the country, those at the bottom have managed very poorly and suffer to get through the days.
Working class Americans once experienced many benefits, but over the past few decades these have mostly evaporated, and the remaining benefits are disappearing at a rapid pace. Many individuals are often persuaded with false information and misdirection from charismatic figures without any thought to investigate any of the details for themselves. However, this is just a marvelous performance, confusing the issues of why the middle class and poor are suffering so severely in today’s economy. In reality, the primary cause is due to the economic elite, the wealthiest of Americans, who have strategically placed themselves as the ruling class (Barlett & Steele, 2012). They have proceeded to erect discriminatory borders in order to separate themselves from the others they discard.
Income inequality has been a common problem among people in the United States. A prime example of a group facing income inequality is the middle class. The middle class has served as the backbone to a working economy for decades. Though, lately, the middle class is facing a downward spiral: it is slowly shrinking in number. Because the Middle class will never truly be eliminated, solutions can be limited; however the best thing to do is to try to strengthen this weak link. As Richard Nixon said in his Address to the Nation, we are a “working class” as a whole, we should be using that backbone to uphold our nation. The middle class does so much in our economy that the fall of this keystone could possibly cause a complete domino effect in the
Hence it is clear, income inequality shook middle class citizens unpleasantly. To improve upon the issues middle class Americans suffering, there needs to be necessary changes to make it possible. However, these changes will doubly happen anytime soon. Possible solution to combat income inequality affecting middle class are: strengthen the unions, raise minimum wage, reduce debt burden for college students, improving education system, modifying tax codes, corporate or big business tax going to communities and public facilities, middle class income should be raised to fit with the inflation or cost of living, government should intervene with deregulation policies if a threat to public’s interest, and modify health care system. These are some
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).
Over the past few decades, the “American Dream” vision has been quickly vanishing as a result of the increasing troubles and weakening of the middle class. It has lost the view of being the most successful and wealthy middle class in the world, while the middle classes in other countries are excelling in earning higher middle and lower class incomes. The issue of the declining wealth of the middle class explains a huge problem in the United States’ future prosperity and well being for the citizens and the country. There are many issues that affect the success of the middle and lower classes, such as structural differences in the economy, culture, and government. The gap between the middle and high classes is increasing specifically. The United States has the image of giving people life and prosperity, but inequality is increasing significantly due to issues in education, decrease in taxation among the upper class, and decrease of middle class power in the democracy, while other ideas and mechanisms can be take from other nations.
One of the social issues concerning power, status, and class in American society today is income inequality. The income gap between the social classes has increased drastically throughout the last few decades, creating a significant gap between the wealthy and the poor. This gap has become so large that the middle class has nearly diminished, creating a social class comprised of the rich and the poor. The significant gap between the two social classes is unhealthy for the economy because it provides too much power in the hands of those with high social status.
I was shocked by some points and disagreed with other points. I’ll mention the most shocking, surprising and controversial one. The surprising point that people views regarding inequality is not affected by their political view. Also, the reporter discussed some information about the consumers who spend more money. I was totally shocked by the fact that the middle class spends more money than wealthy people. Ultimately, I can’t relate to his sentence when he mentioned that inequality is good for our community. I believe it could be very difficult for most health care providers to think of inequality as a positive drive for our future, and can’t wait to discuss this point with students who specialized in economic.