Middle class shrinks to barely half of U.S. adults

The American middle class is shrinking. While Americans in the upper-income and lower-income brackets increased, the middle class represents less than half of Americans (from 61% in 1971 to under 50% in 2015). Househould income has substantially shifted from middle-income to upper-income households. Unfortunately, this study confirms that income inequality (the gap between the rich and poor) is widening. Robert Reich argues that the demise of the middle-class has more to do with the concentration of corporate and financial power shaping the economy to benefit the wealthy.

After more than four decades of serving as the nation’s economic majority, the American middle class is now matched in number by those in the economic tiers above and below it. In early 2015, 120.8 million adults were in middle-income households, compared with 121.3 million in lower- and upper-income households combined, a demographic shift that could signal a tipping point, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data.

Click here to read the full Pew Research Center report, The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground.

Click here to read ProPublica report on debt and the racial wealth gap.