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You may have heard that America's middle class is dissappearing. This is often left to imply that if unchecked, that America will be divided between a few enriched but many poor Americans. But what is really happening?
The Pew Research center has looked into it and these are the numbers. Everything is categorized into household income which is adjusted for the number of occupants. The lower class is defined as having household incomes which hare less than 67% of the median household income. The upper class has a household income more than twice as high as the median. Anything in between is the middle class.
The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground | Pew Research Center
When we look at the data, we can indeed see that the middle class is shrinking.
In 1971, 61% of Americans were in the middle class but by 2015, that number had fallen to 50%. The lower class had increased from 25% to 29% in that same timeframe. However, the upper class grew by an even greater amount than the lower class. In 1971, they were at 14% but by 12015, they were at 21%. So while some people who grew up in the middle class fell into the lower class, others rose into the upper class.
Another interesting fact is that blacks had their income status by 11.2% in the 43 year period; this is actually higher than for whites which was 6.8%. Unfortunately, hispanics saw theirs decrease by 7.2%. Women increased their social status by 3.5% while men increased theirs by 2.7% (if there's a gender pay gap, it's closing).
The great news is that if you're married, the chances of you becoming rich have really gone up and if you decide not to have kids, then your odds of falling into the lower class goes down. The bad news is that if you don't get married, then the odds of falling behind have gone up while the odds of getting rich have only gone up marginally.
Another interesting statistic is the amount of gain made by senior citizens. In 1971, most of them were in the lower class but unlike many other demographics, the lower class has actually fallen
As of 2015, a majority of high school dropouts are in the lower class and this trend is only increasing. People with high school diplomas and even people who have done some college (but not completed four years) are increasingly falling into the lower class but not many are rising into the upper class. It seems like the safest bet to getting rich in this day and age is to get a bachelor's degree.
The Pew Research center has looked into it and these are the numbers. Everything is categorized into household income which is adjusted for the number of occupants. The lower class is defined as having household incomes which hare less than 67% of the median household income. The upper class has a household income more than twice as high as the median. Anything in between is the middle class.
The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground | Pew Research Center
When we look at the data, we can indeed see that the middle class is shrinking.
In 1971, 61% of Americans were in the middle class but by 2015, that number had fallen to 50%. The lower class had increased from 25% to 29% in that same timeframe. However, the upper class grew by an even greater amount than the lower class. In 1971, they were at 14% but by 12015, they were at 21%. So while some people who grew up in the middle class fell into the lower class, others rose into the upper class.
Another interesting fact is that blacks had their income status by 11.2% in the 43 year period; this is actually higher than for whites which was 6.8%. Unfortunately, hispanics saw theirs decrease by 7.2%. Women increased their social status by 3.5% while men increased theirs by 2.7% (if there's a gender pay gap, it's closing).
The great news is that if you're married, the chances of you becoming rich have really gone up and if you decide not to have kids, then your odds of falling into the lower class goes down. The bad news is that if you don't get married, then the odds of falling behind have gone up while the odds of getting rich have only gone up marginally.
Another interesting statistic is the amount of gain made by senior citizens. In 1971, most of them were in the lower class but unlike many other demographics, the lower class has actually fallen
As of 2015, a majority of high school dropouts are in the lower class and this trend is only increasing. People with high school diplomas and even people who have done some college (but not completed four years) are increasingly falling into the lower class but not many are rising into the upper class. It seems like the safest bet to getting rich in this day and age is to get a bachelor's degree.