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Thursday, January 30th, 2014

Despite Recovery, Fewer Americans Identify as Middle Class

Author:     RAKESH KOCHHAR and RICH MORIN
Source:     Peew Research Center
Publication Date:     January 27, 2014
 Link: Despite Recovery, Fewer Americans Identify as Middle Class
Stephan:   Here we see the bitter truth about the demise of the American middle class. Part of the problem the Congress has with dealing with this, I think, is that they are mostly millionaires and they just don't get it. However, the key to a successful democracy is a strong middle class and if something is not done to reverse this, as a country we are in peril Click through to see the graph.

Despite a slowly recovering economy, the proportion of Americans who identify themselves as middle class has dropped sharply in recent years. Today, about as many Americans identify themselves as lower or lower-middle class (40%) as say they are in the middle class (44%), according to a recent Pew Research Center/USA TODAY survey.

The nationally representative survey of 1,504 adults conducted Jan. 15-19 found that the share of Americans who identify with the middle class has never been lower, dropping to 44% in the latest survey from 53% in 2008 during the first months of the Great Recession.

At the same time, the share of the public who says they are in the lower or lower-middle classes rose by 15 percentage points, from 25% in 2008 to 40% today.

As a consequence of these shifts, the difference in the proportion of Americans who say they are middle class and those who say they are in the lower classes has fallen from 28 percentage points in 2008 (53% vs. 25%) to a statistically insignificant 4 points today (44% vs. 40%).

The survey also found that the upper classes have not been immune from the changes reshaping the middle and lower classes. In 2008, about […]

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