“the american middle class is”
Katie Naughton
the ability to pay bills on time
a secure job
ability to save money
time and money for vacations
at least 1000 in savings
losing ground
currently the world’s wealthiest
in trouble
shrinking
really shrinking
disappearing
52% of adults in middle-income households
household income ranging from about $48,500 to $145,500
adjusted for the cost of living in a metropolitan area
calculated for a household size of three
among all American adults with your education, age, race or ethnicity, and marital status, 11% are LOWER income, 54% are MIDDLE income and 34% are UPPER income
(bachelor’s degree or more, 30 to 44, white, not married)
among all American adults with your education, age, race or ethnicity, and marital status, 20% are LOWER income, 61% are MIDDLE income and 19% are UPPER income
(bachelor’s degree or more, 30 to 44, black, not married)
among all American adults with your education, age, race or ethnicity, and marital status, 37% are LOWER income, 54% are MIDDLE income and 8% are UPPER income
(high school graduate, 30 to 44, white, not married)
among all American adults with your education, age, race or ethnicity, and marital status, 55% are LOWER income, 41% are MIDDLE income and 4% are UPPER income
(high school graduate, 30 to 44, black, not married)
sh, credentials, or culture?
income, wealth, status, education, behavior, taste, consumption, an attitude, a mindset, a self-perception, behavior, an implicit racial connotation
$10 to $100 per person per day purchasing power parity
between two-thirds and twice the national median
50 to 150 percent of the national median
75 to 125 percent of the national median
between 23 and 48 percent of households
a fall from 61 percent in 1970 to 50 percent in 2014
a decline from 50 to 42 percent from 1970 to 2010
not the 4 percentage points that fell into the lower class
not the 7 percentage points that moved into the upper or upper-middle class
at least middle class
the share of income going to middle-class households
$30,000 to $130,000
$55,000 to $85,000
$30,000 to $85,000
the third and fourth quintiles
the second and third quintiles
the middle three quintiles
60 percent of all households
the 30th to 90th percentiles
zero sum: for every household that moves into the middle class, another must move out
150% of the federal poverty level
$30,000
300% of the federal poverty line
those ‘comfortably’ clear of being at-risk-of-poverty
nine or ten times the poverty line
300% of median income
five times the poverty level
just under $100,000
based on federal poverty thresholds
based on federal poverty guidelines
based on Official Poverty Measure
three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index
the minimum income necessary to achieve a certain standard of living
seen in terms of a certain distance from poverty
absolute purchasing power
spending $35,000 to $100,000
spending $50,000
$11 to $110 per person per day
$50 per person per day
wealth
“potential consumption”
“financially comfortable”
net worth of $500,000 to $1 million
wealth alleviating anxiety
the middle three quintiles of wealth distribution
homeownership
mortgage debt
larger houses
better-quality cars
materially better off than it was in 1980
middle-quintile spending
spending $38,200 to $49,900
what it can buy
economic progress over time
an occupation much more visible than income
salarists who have a reasonable expectation of employment and promotion
mid-level white-collar positions
high-skill technical occupations
a human resource specialist, a K-12 teacher, a physical therapist
based on the cognitive requirement of its occupation
earnings, education levels, skills, “prestige ranking”
low wages relative to occupations with similar education levels, but a high prestige rating relative to their education and earnings
high earnings related to their education, but low prestige relative their education and earnings
typically applied to families or households
denoted by the “economically dominant” occupation
often the man
skewed toward male occupations
different for men and women within occupations
a four-year college degree
a “college wage premium” that has grown over time
job stability and autonomy
an educational credential whose relative value shifts over time
households in the top income quintile in which no adult has a bachelor’s degree
not relating to the “elite” norms or values often marked by one’s educational credentials
“a term that we all use to describe ourselves regardless of whether or not it reflects reality”
the “working class”
a state of mind
aspirations and attitudes
striving for economic stability
the desire to own a home and save for retirement
wanting economic opportunities for their children wants to provide them a college education
wanting to protect their own and their children’s health
wanting each adult to have a car
wanting a family vacation each year
working hard
planning ahead
saving for the future
setting goals and working to achieve them
aspiring and working hard to be middle class
aspiration regardless of achievement
everyone but the one in ten Americans that define themselves as lower class and the 1-3 percent of Americans that define themselves as upper class
what 70% of families making less than $30,000 a year think they are
what 90% of families making $30,000 to $50,000 think they are
what 98% of families making $75,000 to $100,000 think they are
what 95% of families making over $100,000 think they are
what it thinks should be at least $40,000 a year
what it thinks could be up to $200,000 a year
what it thinks should be at least $46,000 a year
what it thinks could be up to $230,000 a year
what it thinks 61 percent of households are
the established middle class
the technical middle class
new affluent workers
high but not “very” high economic, social, and cultural capital
more moderate cultural capital and few social contacts but otherwise high economic and social capital
more moderate economic and social capital but high “emerging” cultural capital
classical music and art galleries
sports and rap music
a taste for certain kinds of high culture even at similar levels of income and education
14 percentage points higher probability of attending an art exhibit in the past year
an implicitly whites-only category
is less likely to define itself as middle class if Black even within the same income brackets
is what 25% of white Americans under $25,000 a year think they are
is what 35% of white Americans $25,000-$75,000 think they are
is what 70 % of white Americans over $75,000 think they are
is what 20% of Black Americans under $25,000 think they are
is what 18% of Black Americans $25,000-$75,000 think they are
is what 60 % of Black Americans over $75,000 think they are
is what it is not
Language from: Pew Research “Are You in the American Middle Class,” The Motely Fool “Are You Middle Class? Here are 5 Traits you Might Have,” The Brookings Institute “Defining the Middle Class: Cash, Credentials, or Culture?”