Middle class shrinks to its smallest level since WWII

[Saul118]

This week, a new Pew Research study discovered that the middle class has dropped to its tiniest share since the late 1940s.



Reason behind middle class difficulties



In 2009, the Good Recession officially ended, but the middle class did not ever recover from it and are still reducing their spending. The middle class makes up for about half of all American adults, and Pew points out that it is the worst decade in modern history for them.



The poll demonstrated that most middle class Americans do not think their kids will be able to increase the standard of living from where they are at. About 85 percent of Americans in the middle class say it is harder to maintain a lifestyle now than it was 10 years back.



Any person who makes between $39,000 and $118,000 is known as to be in the middle class for the Pew study.



Placing blame



Economics professor Timothy Smeeding said:

"These are the disaffected middle class who work hard and play by the rules of society, but increasingly see their situation declining by forces beyond their control. No matter who is president, the climb back up for the middle class and the recovery will be slow and often painful."

A lot of people blame Congress for it, at 62 percent. There are 54 percent that blame the nation’s bank while 44 percent blame G.W. Bush. There are 10 percent of individuals who recognize that the middle class itself might have something to do with it.



Waking from the American Dream



The standard of living is on the drop for most Americans. Twelve years back, the median income in the U.S. was $72,956. Today, it has dropped to $69,487. That gap is even wider if inflation is factored in. It has continued to increase in spite of declining incomes.



Paul Taylor of the Pew Research Center said:

“The notion that the middle class always enjoys an increasing standard of living is a big part of America’s sense of itself. And in modern times, it’s always been true - until now... Middle class Americans still have faith in the future -- their own, their children’s, the country’s [future]. But their outlook is not as rosy now as it was before the recession began.”

There are increasing incomes for the top earners still.