Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
nytimes.com
Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
1–10 of 180 posts
Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#2i'm not sure $125k/year for a family of 3 should really be considered 'upper class'. is 2 working parents barely making 60k each really upper class?
i would like to see these numbers for 4x or 5x the median (roughly $250k/year). to me that's really where the delta in income starts to become apparent as manifested in lifestyle choices and accumulated wealth.
edit: okay, reading the actual research reveals that pew calls it 'upper income', not 'upper class', which i generally agree more with. this is probably a slight editorial twist by nytimes to emphasize the point.
Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#3i'm not sure $125k/year for a family of 3 should really be considered 'upper class'. is 2 working parents barely making 60k each really upper class? i would like to see these numbers for 4x or 5x the median (roughly $250k/year). to me that's really where the delta in income starts to become apparent as manifested in lifestyle choices and accumulated wealth. edit: okay, reading the actual research reveals that pew cal…
I don't think the specific number matters too much. As long as the number was consistent in the survey, the point is made.
Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#4HN Title (currently "The Middle Class is Shrinking") misrepresents the title and focus of the article (source title is "Where the Middle Class is Shrinking").
Posting this separately from response on the substance of the source article (because hopefully it will be corrected and this will be come irrelevant.)
EDIT: Oddly, the current HN Title is closer to the focus of an earlier Pew release [0] that is a predecessor to the one the NYTimes article behind the current title is based on [1].
[0] http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middl...
[1] http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/11/americas-shrinking...
Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#5i'm not sure $125k/year for a family of 3 should really be considered 'upper class'. is 2 working parents barely making 60k each really upper class? i would like to see these numbers for 4x or 5x the median (roughly $250k/year). to me that's really where the delta in income starts to become apparent as manifested in lifestyle choices and accumulated wealth. edit: okay, reading the actual research reveals that pew cal…
Agreed. We live in Canada. Our household income for a family of 3 is just over $125K and I certainly don't feel like we're "upper class". We can't even afford to buy a house where we live.
Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#6i'm not sure $125k/year for a family of 3 should really be considered 'upper class'. is 2 working parents barely making 60k each really upper class? i would like to see these numbers for 4x or 5x the median (roughly $250k/year). to me that's really where the delta in income starts to become apparent as manifested in lifestyle choices and accumulated wealth. edit: okay, reading the actual research reveals that pew cal…
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Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#7The source report that the article is about has a lot more data and explanations: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/11/americas-shrinking...
Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#8Anyone able to offer an explaination of why having a large middle class is viewed as positive? For example, say large population was happy, educated, healthy, etc. - why does it matter what the class distribution is?
Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#9In some places the middle class is losing pop to the upper class, in others it's losing pop to the lower class.
It's also a moving target. It's based on relative income rather than a set point of achievements (ability to send offspring to college/uni). On the other hand we can infer that it's not as easy as it once was to become middle class through union/blue collar jobs, except in some government spheres.
Beset by offshoring and major political parties who only visit factories for photo ops, the blue collar middle class is feeling the strain and are making themselves felt by both parties who may ignore them at their political peril -if they continue to carry the brunt of the negative changes necessary for progress, their dissatisfaction will transform from indifference to a large political movement both major parties will have to manage in the next few election cycles.
Re: Where the Middle Class Is Shrinking
#10i'm not sure $125k/year for a family of 3 should really be considered 'upper class'. is 2 working parents barely making 60k each really upper class? i would like to see these numbers for 4x or 5x the median (roughly $250k/year). to me that's really where the delta in income starts to become apparent as manifested in lifestyle choices and accumulated wealth. edit: okay, reading the actual research reveals that pew cal…
We should re-evaluate the class distinctions. Where does upper class start? Upper class to me should feel like upper class. It needs to be as you suggested at 4x or 5x the median income for the area.
I think upper class is the ability to afford, without undue stress, an ample house and two car payments while still going to get manicures.