WHAT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MIDDLE CLASS?

Lebohang Pheko – Senior Research Fellow at Trade Collective Guest: Paul Janish – Managing Director at Caird and is also an Empowerment Consultant Talking Points: - Who is middle class? We need to define this first (NB)- Should they pay more taxes?- Should they offer others job (Business Owners)Economists and analysts are still debating how exactly to define the "middle class" and how large it is, despite much research into this surge in relative affluence.According to researchers from Stellenbosch University’s Research on Socio-Economic Policy unit, "middle class" is a term borrowed from developed-country literature to represent the substantial middle layer of society where people are well educated, skilled and earning a good salary."However, when applying this concept to highly unequal developing countries such as SA, there is a tension between the attributes associated with a middle class in developed-country literature and the middle segment of income distribution in SA," the Stellenbosch researchers say.