America’s Shrinking Middle Class

[AR Husker Fan]

A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that the "middle class lost ground in nearly nine-in-ten U.S. metropolitan areas examined' in the study.

 

Quite lengthy and involved, but a very interesting read. Some interesting excerpts:

 

 

 

The share of the American adult population that lives in middle-income households has fallen since 2000. The trend this century is the continuation of a long-running decline. An earlier analysis by the Pew Research Center, which looked at the period from 1971 to 2015, demonstrated that the middle class in the U.S. has been shrinking steadily for more than four decades.

 

 

 

The shrinking in the middle is more pronounced over the long haul. As previously reported by Pew Research, the middle-income share decreased from 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2015. Over this nearly 45-year period, the share of the upper-income tier rose from 14% to 21%, and the share in the lower-income tier increased from 25% to 29%.

 

 

 

In the U.S. overall, the share of adults in the middle class fell from 55% in 2000 to 51% in 2014. This decline in the middle was accompanied by dispersal in two directions. First, the share of adults in the upper-income tier increased from 17% to 20%, a change of 2 percentage points. Second, the share of adults in the lower-income tier rose from 28% to 29%, an increase of 1 percentage point. The difference between these opposing movements—1 percentage point—is the net gain for American adults.

[BigRedBuster]

So.....more American adults have moved up than down.

[Danny Bateman]

Hmmm. It appears honorable Senator Sanders is correct when he diagnoses the problem. I just wish he had solutions that didn't require unicorn math and fairy dust to get through Congress.

[84HuskerLaw]

Don't have time to go research into all the details of the study (where the devil usually is found) but I am pretty sure the tremendous anxiety and even the 'anger' that the society as a whole is unquesitonably feeling and expressing in the current election results is clear and direct evidence of this disappearance of the so-called middle class. But I would take issue with some of the assertions about the trends and so on. there is no doubt recent data I have read from government sources shows a dramatic decline in household incomes (before inflation adjustments) in the past decade. This drop is a new phenomenom to the past 8 years. I know far too many on this board and generally across society today do not want to accept these basic facts but they are true. People are suffering and the so-called 'recovery' has NEVER happened in real, practicable household levels across a large part of this country and society. Employment is NOT growing nor are incomes improving. Many households have seen dramatic drops in their household incomes while the cost of living as measured by people's bank account balances has risen a bunch. When recent reports show more than 50% of all American housenolds don't have $1,000 in the bank and couldn't cover a $400 unexpected repair bill, you have MAJOR issues in the economy. This is called "recession" or for many people "depression" and it continues unabated for going on 10 years.

 

This is why people are angry. Many used up their savings, borrowed where they could, sold off what they could, etc to scrape by waiting patientl at first and then anxiously after about 3 years or so (circa 2011) and have grown more and more desperate and angry. We have all watched as government continued to spend trillions and trillions on worthy and not so worthy programs and projects. Now they want change. Real change. This has to stop now.

[StPaulHusker]

I think if you are going to make a statement like that, you should probably take the time to find that devil in the details.

[HuskerShark]

So.....more American adults have moved up than down.

 

HAHA my take-away as well.

[knapplc]

Hmmm. It appears honorable Senator Sanders is correct when he diagnoses the problem. I just wish he had solutions that didn't require unicorn math and fairy dust to get through Congress.

No way Sanders' plans make it through congress. Obamacare was a cakewalk compared to the kind of economy-killing stuff Sanders wants to do. I like that Sanders thinks out of the box and I like his anti-establishment stance, but I don't like the fact that, as you so aptly put it, 'unicorn math and fairy dust' are required for it all to work.

[Landlord]

 

Hmmm. It appears honorable Senator Sanders is correct when he diagnoses the problem. I just wish he had solutions that didn't require unicorn math and fairy dust to get through Congress.

No way Sanders' plans make it through congress. Obamacare was a cakewalk compared to the kind of economy-killing stuff Sanders wants to do. I like that Sanders thinks out of the box and I like his anti-establishment stance, but I don't like the fact that, as you so aptly put it, 'unicorn math and fairy dust' are required for it all to work.

 

 

 

Which makes it confusing to me why people don't think he's electable or would be a good President. He's got the honesty, integrity, consistency, and idealism that every other major candidate lacks, and if his policies are wild and would never actually work (as in would never actually be able to become policy), then still put him in there. No harm no foul.

[JJ Husker]

 

 

Hmmm. It appears honorable Senator Sanders is correct when he diagnoses the problem. I just wish he had solutions that didn't require unicorn math and fairy dust to get through Congress.

 

No way Sanders' plans make it through congress. Obamacare was a cakewalk compared to the kind of economy-killing stuff Sanders wants to do. I like that Sanders thinks out of the box and I like his anti-establishment stance, but I don't like the fact that, as you so aptly put it, 'unicorn math and fairy dust' are required for it all to work.

 

Which makes it confusing to me why people don't think he's electable or would be a good President. He's got the honesty, integrity, consistency, and idealism that every other major candidate lacks, and if his policies are wild and would never actually work (as in would never actually be able to become policy), then still put him in there. No harm no foul.

If honesty, integrity, consistency, and idealism is all that is required for President of the United States, then just elect me and I'll work on getting my idealism up a bit. I'm sure I could also come up with some hairbrained schemes that wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making it through congress.

 

I realize all the candidates this cycle suck big time but maybe we (the citizens and voters) need to get/keep our expectations above gutter trash levels. Ha, we'd just be even more disappointed likely.

[Landlord]

 

 

 

Hmmm. It appears honorable Senator Sanders is correct when he diagnoses the problem. I just wish he had solutions that didn't require unicorn math and fairy dust to get through Congress.

No way Sanders' plans make it through congress. Obamacare was a cakewalk compared to the kind of economy-killing stuff Sanders wants to do. I like that Sanders thinks out of the box and I like his anti-establishment stance, but I don't like the fact that, as you so aptly put it, 'unicorn math and fairy dust' are required for it all to work.

 

Which makes it confusing to me why people don't think he's electable or would be a good President. He's got the honesty, integrity, consistency, and idealism that every other major candidate lacks, and if his policies are wild and would never actually work (as in would never actually be able to become policy), then still put him in there. No harm no foul.

If honesty, integrity, consistency, and idealism is all that is required for President of the United States, then just elect me and I'll work on getting my idealism up a bit. I'm sure I could also come up with some hairbrained schemes that wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making it through congress.

 

I realize all the candidates this cycle suck big time but maybe we (the citizens and voters) need to get/keep our expectations above gutter trash levels. Ha, we'd just be even more disappointed likely.

 

 

 

You'd honestly probably make a better politician than Hillary or Trump.

 

 

The President shouldn't be someone with all these new and exciting ideas actually doing the work. The President should be a CEO who leads and manages the government in a direction. Politics are beyond broken.