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People keep talking about how the middle class is shrinking, but the studies show that it is happening because many people are leaving the middle class to become members of the upper class.
Is this a problem? Sounds like a good thing to me, but maybe the real issue is that the "middle class" range needs to revised upwards.
More people are entering high income class than entering the low income class.
Does it make sense to complain about the shrinking middle class if people are actually better off?
Across the country, the share of adults in the upper-income tier rose from 14 percent in 1971 to 21 percent in 2015, or a gain of 7 percentage points, according to the report. At the same time, the share of adults in the lower-income group increased, from 25 percent to 29 percent – a four-point increase.
that's largely because the top income half has much higher marriage rates than the bottom half, and it's not hard for two middle incomes to join the top tier when they marry and combine incomes.
the lower income tier also expanded because their marriage rates are declining., hence upper tier usually has two earners in one household while the lower tier has two earners in two households.
Some went up and some went down. Not all went up. Either way you look at it, the middle is getting smaller.
Looks like more people went up than down. That's my point. Maybe the method of trying to define the middle class is flawed. If the upper class is top-heavy, then maybe the range to define middle class needs to be revised from 125K upwards.
upper and lower class is defined as a multiple of median income. since 2000 the median income has dropped 4%. The math causes more to move into the upper class as the median drops. Even worse is that despite the median dropping, we also had 4% more go into the lower class.
that's largely because the top income half has much higher marriage rates than the bottom half, and it's not hard for two middle incomes to join the top tier when they marry and combine incomes.
the lower income tier also expanded because their marriage rates are declining., hence upper tier usually has two earners in one household while the lower tier has two earners in two households.
But your title says the middle class shrinking is a myth, it is not. It is in fact shrinking.
True, but it is not shrining for the reasons people think it is. Its a myth, because people think it is shrinking because people are dropping to the lower class.
True, but it is not shrining for the reasons people think it is. Its a myth, because people think it is shrinking because people are dropping to the lower class.
uhmmm the lower class is 4% higher. The rising upper class is more about the median dropping, making average income folks more likely to move up.
This does in fact mean that the middle class is going down.
uhmmm the lower class is 4% higher. The rising upper class is more about the median dropping, making average income folks more likely to move up.
This does in fact mean that the middle class is going down.
4% went down and 7% went up.
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