Middle Class Squeeze Continues

I've been discussed the declining middle class for some time now -- see The Disconnect and Economic Classes for a more detailed chat on the subject.

I'll have more on this later in the week -- but for now, I wanted to throw up some charts up.

I always snicker when I hear a politico scratch their head about why the opinion polls are so negative, despite "good growth and low unemployment." Aside from the fact those stats are somewhat "gamed," we also know there are additional issues. Consider our modern bad habits -- excess consumption, too much debt, too little security -- of all types.

Its no wonder much of the middle class is less than enthralled with the present environment:

Source:

New Study: Middle Class in Turmoil

Economic risks up sharply for most families since 2001 -

September 28, 2006

Christian E. Weller and Eli Staub

http://www.americanprogress.org/pressroom/releases/2006/09/middleclassturmoil.html

Middle Class in Turmoil PDF

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/09/MidClassReport.pdf

Sunday, October 29, 2006 | 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBack (0)

add to de.li.cious | digg this! | add to technorati | email this post

TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry:

https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c52a953ef00d834c29d4553ef Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Middle Class Squeeze Continues:

Comments

And of course, there is this picture of the relative share of aggregate income received my the middle 60% of households versus the top fifth (the bottom fifth is a rounding error; ah, poverty).

There is a discontinuity in the series; look around it. It results from the census raising its cap on recorded incomes to $1m.

Posted by: wcw | Oct 29, 2006 12:49:05 PM