NPR - A just-released analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority. The trend is so firmly established that it may well continue; Americans have experienced "a demographic shift that could signal a tipping point," Pew researchers concluded Wednesday.
Thanks to factory closings and other economic factors, the country now has 120.8 million adults living in middle-income households, the study found. That compares with the 121.3 million who are living in either upper- or lower-income households. . . .
Pew concluded that back in 1971, about 2 out of 3 Americans lived in middle-income households. Since then, the middle has been steadily shrinking. Today, just a shade under half of all households (about 49.9 percent) have middle incomes.
1 comment:
If the official poverty level reflected what it really costs to survive in the US, how many "middle income" people would suddenly find themselves reclassified as poor. The term middle income, currently appears to refers to percentile of the population, and not actual income, comfort, or wealth.
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