Summary Of The Shrinking American Middle Class

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

The media especially enjoys reducing the severity of the class disparity by pushing the idea that the majority falls within the middle class. Not only does entertainment follow a typical middle-class protagonists format but the news also allots middle class politics the most screen time. However, the middle class is actually shrinking indefinitely but this rising development continues to be ignored.

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

It is a fact that in the US, 50 percent of the wealth is controlled by 1% of the population. But is it really such an unfortunate reality that we would need a system other capitalism to stem the tide of upward movement of wealth distribution. In my view, what is wrong is not the 1 percent's hold on 50 percent of wealth but the resulting decline in middle class that is now a major problem for the US.

Publisher, Richard V. Reeves, in his online article, "The Dangerous Separation of the American Upper Middle Class," shares how income, education, and political power has caused a split in the upper middle class. Reeves 's purpose is to convey the idea that the upper middle class has shifted from being a sociological curiosity to an economic and political problem. Reeves outlines how the upper middle class that was once considered an accessible hope or American dream, is now a blockade and an obstacle for others. He adopts a rational and analytical tone to appeal to the reader 's sense of reason. Reeves cites convincing facts and

The article I found describes the issue that the middle class in America is no longer the world’s richest, and compares this issue with other advanced countries. It states that in recent years, middle class families in America were receiving meager raised income than counterparts were around the world, and most of American families were receiving unequally income. Those income data were analyzed by LIS, a group that maintains the Luxembourg Income Study Databases, and by The Upshot, a New York Times website covering policy and politics, and also reviewed by outside-academic economists. The United States used to be a leader of after-tax middle-class income country among all the developed states, but now the other countries,

Elizabeth Warren’s The Vanishing Middle Class is about what exactly the middle class is and why the decline of this social class isn’t being brought to attention. I believe and agree that she answered this question with flying colors, providing all the factual information to clarify all her claims shown. As Warren states (as well as shows through a graph on another page) how inflated the pay of a single male full-time employer has become decades since the 70’s, compared to those married couples’ who’s have sky rocketed rather than flat-lined. This has

The largest group in America is facing extinction. We are talking of course about the American middle class. In 1971 the American middle class population was 36% higher than the population of the lower class. However, today the middle class population is now only 22% higher than the lower class (McDill). This is only a 14% drop spread over 44 years. The major issue here is that while the middle class shrinks, the upper and lower classes are growing. Financial experts believe that soon the middle class will become nonexistent and America will be divided into two extremes, poverty and wealth. This issue has become so severe that the United States government has stepped in and created a “middle class task force” passed as part of the

“Approximately 13 percent of the American population- that is, nearly, of every eight people in this country- live below the official poverty line,” (Mantsios 179). I define being wealthy as having an immense amount of money, enough to not be stressed about paying bills.

While it is true that technological equipment is advancing at a faster rate than we can think or that education is the key to a brighter future, it does not necessarily mean that we need to leave the middle class behind into ever existing. In “Confronting Inequality”, Paul Krugman quotes a Thomas Jefferson line that reads, “The small landowners are the most precious part of a state” which the meaning stands for itself. It is an assertion that the middle class or lower class is one of the most valuable classes of all and without it, America wouldn’t be itself. This dramatic inequality that we live in has turned us into a society with a hopeless and weakened middle class. What Americans don’t seem to realize or sympathize is that the middle class is struggling against the trend of decline. The bulk of the middle class population now believe that the potential of oncoming generations to afford college will never repeat itself and that workers will uncertainly feel as secure in their jobs as they once did in the past

Chatham, was a swampy area unfit for human habitation in the 1860s, the early stages of Chicago as a city. Soon it followed the industrial trend of the rest of Chicago, providing settlement for those who worked in lakeside steel mills at the turn of the century. In the 1920s there was a marked increase in property values there was an influx of European immigrants. The population grew to over 36,000 and the neighborhood became established it as the middle class neighborhood it is recognized as today. Resident make-up changed throughout the years, the transition however from white to black was rapid, like it was in many other parts of the city. From an almost non-existent black population in 1950, the neighborhood was majority black by 1960 and by 1990, 99% of Chatham’s residents were black. The maintenance of a middle-class community has remained an important priority in Chatham throughout the years. In the 1990s Chatham showed signs of another community

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).

Since the middle class makes up a significant amount of the United States population, this group would reflect the majority of the behaviors and views of the United States population. However, there are some inaccuracies when attempts are made to use the middle class the sole source of the opinions of the country’s population. Focusing on only the middle class will leave out the opinions of the lower class, as well as the upper class. Both groups have extremely different outlooks on the creation and stability of American culture. Having these differences come into play in attempting to define deviance. Trying to define deviance is rooted in issues with education, money, religion, and other social constructs. In these areas, the ones that cement

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.