Many in U.S. Are Slipping From the Middle Class

Given the GOP's war on the middle class and the nation's rush toward banana republic levels of wealth disparity, it is no surprise that a new Washington Post story looks at the increasing numbers of Americans slipping from the middle class. Sadly, I suspect that the trend will only get worse unless there is a sea change in government policies and measures are implemented to stem the flow of living wage jobs overseas. When I was a child, most families had a single working parent who could provide some standard of living to the entire family. Today, even with multiple family members employed outside the home, the battle to survive is a daily struggle. Here are some excerpts from the story:

Nearly one in three Americans who grew up middle-class has slipped down the income ladder as an adult, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Downward mobility is most common among middle-class people who are divorced or separated from their spouses, did not attend college, scored poorly on standardized tests, or used hard drugs, the report says.

People were deemed downwardly mobile if they fell below the 30th percentile in income, if their income rank was 20 or more percentiles below their parents’ rank, or if they earn at least 20 percent less than their parents. The findings do not cover the difficult times that the nation has endured since 2007.


Overall, African American men have a particularly hard time clinging to middle-class status. Thirty-eight percent of black men who grew up middle-class are downwardly mobile, nearly double the rate of white men, the report says. Hispanic men are slightly more likely than white males to fall down the economic ladder, but the difference was not statistically significant.

The irony is that GOP policies will worsen the trend, yet the idiots in the Tea Party support those who in practice - as opposed to their demagoguery - are the enemies of the middle class.