The Incredible Shrinking Middle Class

This post goes out to both free and paid subscribers, but if you are not already a paid subscriber and value this effort and our growing community, please consider upgrading to a paid membership. “For many Americans, the middle class is a matter of identity, aspiration and lifestyle as much as it is about wealth.” NPR, July 7, 2016. I don’t have foolproof answers to the questions posed in this post’s subtitle: “where has our middle-class gone and can we get it back”, but I will provide a bit of history and statistics to show you where the wealth that once belonged to the middle class, in homes, savings and good paying jobs, has been transferred. Unfortunately, it now mostly resides with the rich and super-rich. And most recently, millions of once middle-class folks have been thrown into poverty in 2022 and this year by the rising cost of living and the choice to end the child tax credit and other pandemic aid, so it’s gone in the other direction, too, leaving the once booming middle-class hollowed out, indeed. But it isn’t just about enough money to pay the bills and the accumulation of some wealth, it’s about that thing called hope. I mentioned the idea of a better life for ourselves and our families in my last post—it is why union membership is so important for workers, and by extension, their families and broader communities. It gives them both the hope and the means for a better life. ___ Do you consider yourself part of the middle class? Should our country fight to expand it rather than let it disappear? If so, how? Leave your thoughts in the Comment Section below. The Poverty Trap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Poverty Trap at povertytrap.substack.com/subscribe