50 Percent Of American Workers Make Less Than 28,031 Dollars A Year (loan, insurance)

[Delahanty]

Originally Posted by freemkt

historically, the 'upper class' was defined by having great wealth and not having to work.

The OP has nothing to do with "history" and everything to do with today's economic climate.

Newsflash: The upper class do, indeed "have to work."

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Malloric

It's pretty reasonable, actually. America has an amazingly hedonistic interpretation of "need." So basically, whenever you said something like "support a middle-class lifestyle," that's what you're talking about. So he just is a bit more of a hedonist than the average American is all.

As Mr. Money Mustache says, the typical middle class American lifestyle is an Exploding Volcano of Wastefulness

Getting Rich: from Zero to Hero in One Blog Post

[armory]

Originally Posted by BradPiff

50 Percent Of American Workers Make Less Than 28,031 Dollars A Year

30 years ago, $28,031 was solid middle class.
40 years ago it was damned near wealthy.
50 years ago it would have paid the salary of a lot of MBL and NFL players...they make millions now for doing the same thing...playing football/baseball.

We no longer have a true middle class.

[zoomzoom3]

Originally Posted by armory

30 years ago, $28,031 was solid middle class.
40 years ago it was damned near wealthy.
50 years ago it would have paid the salary of a lot of MBL and NFL players...they make millions now for doing the same thing...playing football/baseball.

We no longer have a true middle class.

And some say there's no inflation...

[mrviking]

Originally Posted by Chance and Change

It's the wealthy who are hiring them, why not complain about that aspect. During the Real Estate Building Boom, not only did many wealthy developer seek out illegals, many found ways to insure the direct access and pathway was wide open for illegals. But no one said a word to the developers who supported illegal labor.
It is again wealthy people who run sweat shops and seek out the illegals.

Don't blame it on the illegals, blame it on the American who seek them out.

In the 1980's, 1990's and early 2000's, everyone wanted a Mexican housekeeper, a mexican handi man or gardner, and they sought out mexicans for child care and some resulted to raise many kids who knew more about the mexican maid than they knew about their own parents.

Its not the wealthy that's in charge of securing the border! Its not the wealthy that runs "ICE" and allows the illegals to be set free with a court date that means nothing.

[mrviking]

Originally Posted by freemkt

of course not, they had school, training, apprenticeships, mentors.

So the unskilled with some initiative can "better themselves", and start looking for better paying jobs.

[RecentGrad1]

Originally Posted by MidwestRedux

I love the inevitable irony in these discussions.

Any time there is talk of income inequality, wage gaps etc. you will have countless posts about Wall Street, Reaganomics, CEOs etc. People will talk about how in the 1980's greed took over in America and we have been in decline ever since.

The irony is that it is because of the massive leaps in technology and standard of living that took place in the 80s, 90s and 2000s that all of these people say "a family of four NEEDS $xx,000 or even $xxx,000 just to SURVIVE."

People have this romanticized image of the 1950s when dad went to the plant for 8 hours a day five days a week and came home to his solidly middle class family. While there was a fleeting period of time that this was possible, the definition of "solidly middle class" has changed since then.

The average home built in the 1950's was 983 square feet. In 2013, the average new home size hit a record of 2598 square feet. Meanwhile the average family size has decreased. (Note: they've decreased in number, not in clothing size.) The "solidly middle class" people that lived in these 983 sq ft homes didn't have designer clothes, luxury SUVs, IPADS, PODS and the like, Hawaiian vacations, private lessons and tutors and the list goes on and on.

Yes, its true. Some people make a whole lot of money and have a whole lot of stuff. Most of those people worked hard, innovated or did something that you and I didn't to get all that stuff. Most of the rest of us that work reasonably hard still live reasonably well by anyone's standards.

Winston Churchill said it best: "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

As Mr. Money Mustache says, the typical middle class American lifestyle is an Exploding Volcano of Wastefulness

Getting Rich: from Zero to Hero in One Blog Post

Well said, both of you! What I don't understand is if people in the 1950's were perfectly happy with their 900-square foot homes and standard clothing, why people need so much more to be "happy" today?

I would argue a 1950's middle class lifestyle could be supported on one average 8-hour salary today. In fact, the inflation adjusted pricing of many of these items has dropped compared to the 1950's! (food gas/cars, etc, come to mind). The problem is that now everyone wants a 2010's middle class lifestyle, which is incredibly wasteful, while giving people no additional happiness.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by armory

30 years ago, $28,031 was solid middle class.
40 years ago it was damned near wealthy.
50 years ago it would have paid the salary of a lot of MBL and NFL players...they make millions now for doing the same thing...playing football/baseball.

We no longer have a true middle class.

It all depends on location (cost of living), lifestyle, and family size. My father made $40,000 back in the 60s, and we barely made it because we lived in a very expensive area and there were 9 of us kids. Where I live the median home price is $700k and even a single person making $28,000 would spend their entire salary on rent alone, while in a place such as Youngstown, Ohio that would be above the median household income and the median home is only $48k.

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by freemkt

of course not, they had school, training, apprenticeships, mentors.

So in spite of one of those, why do you still consider yourself "unskilled"?

[LakeLifePA]

OP, I've fixed the title of your thread..."50 Percent Of American Workers Claim Less Than 28,031 Dollars A Year "