The Vanishing of Middle-Class America

But after the war ended, the economy was moving in a good direction. The government was creating jobs and opportunities for Americans. They were able to find jobs and earn higher wages. The Middle Class emerged after World War II ended in 1945. After the war ended, the government tried to eliminate communism in America by de-emphasizing class difference which formed the middle class. Consumerism was marketed towards the middle class and they were splurging and buying things they needed to live a better life. With the middle class being able to afford products, the economy was growing. The middle class in the 1950’s were making an annual income of $5,000 a month. These people were living the American Life. To earn the middle class income, the husbands worked while their wives took care of the family; however, some families needed both the wife and husband to earn an income to make the 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.

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.

In America the middle class is nothing short of substantial, and this was paralleled when the class was first born in feudal Europe, due to the Crusades, along with many other impacts. The Crusades’ most impactful repercussions were the expansion of trade and the rise of the new middle class. The former revolves around how the growth of trade lead to the growth of other aspects in medieval times. For example, the Crusades causing more trade led to more complex banking styles, like bills of exchange. Not only this but they also attracted more people into Europe, consequently expanding cities and towns. This is important because the bills of exchange -- although not tremendously influential then -- eventually lead to debit cards today, and the

Many middle class families realized that many workers had absolutely nothing and were sick from lack of food, warmth, and shelter. Louis Alcott’s “Little Women”, represented a middle class family giving away their Christmas breakfast because of neighbors that were starving and freezing. This recognizes the comfort that was provided in being a middle class, but did not have the luxuries of the wealthy. The middle class could purchase enough food for one meal but kept a tight budget(source 2). The middle class had exemplary jobs and were payed a comfortable sum of money, nevertheless, the poorest unskilled laborers had to work in repugnant

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 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 the reading of Middle Class Shrinks Further as More Fall Out Instead of Climbing Up, it is very true about the findings about the middle class. Honestly, 35,000 to 100,000 in today’s money are a huge gap differences. This is where now they started calling some individuals upper middle class. The article also, does a great job talking about Social Security. When was brings in Social Security, can a individual who was making 700 every week at Shoprite (which is middle class), at age 64, then retire a 66, and collect Social Security, and only get a paycheck for 600 every week, did they just get moved to lower class? In the reading The Shrinking American Middle Class says age is a big factor, as well as race, family status, and education.

Today increasingly American are trying to get better jobs to have and give a better quality for them and their families. That is why poor people go to college or schools to get skills that qualify them to do so to improve their conditions of life. And then changing status socio-economic from poor to middle class. As indicated by the meanings of US social classes announced in 2014 the working-class wage run from 30,000 to 350,000 yearly being separated in lower, middle, and upper working class individually that relate to a 78.5 of the populace. Despite what many would state that the white-collar class is vanishing.It is somewhat unsure if yes or no and that could be wrangled as demonstrated by everybody: The American, working class, is winning because there are components that show the opposite is guessing(Harsanyi)such as more income, better quality of life and gaining economy.

Pew Research Center’s new analysis shows that the American middle class lost ground in the vast majority of metropolitan areas from 2000 to 2014, and the shares of adults in the lower- and upper-income ranks rose in most areas. There was more movement into the upper-income tier in about half the areas, while in the other half there was more movement downward (May 11, 2016)

The stock market crash in 1929 tanked the country’s economy and triggered a severe recession. The crash basically leveled the income of every American income because so many people lost the money that invested in the market. As the economy improved, the gap between the rich and the poor widened (Leubsdorf). After World War II, unions became common (workers were given fair treatment) and a minimum wage was enacted to help close the gap, but eventually the top percent was the only group of workers that could earn more money. The middle and lower classes suffered. After WWII ended in 1945, the country’s top 1 percent held 10 percent of the nation’s total wealth (Rugaber and Boak). This statistic grew when only the wealthiest Americans increased their incomes. The rest of workers saw little to no economic growth.

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).

In the U.S, incomes of upper class continued to rise dramatically as compared to the rest of the middle class and there is a large gap income. The middle class median family income rose by 35 percent, while incomes for those at the 99th percentile rose by 278 percent (Boushy, 2012).