Middle-Class America at Risk
End of US middle class as we know it
The world’s industrialized nations, including America, are on the verge of losing their middle class, the people whose work ethics are the driving force that allows the world’s economies to remain prosperous.
“The American middle class is in trouble. Incomes are stagnant or falling, while the costs of life’s necessities continue to rise, and the risks of falling behind grow. … A strong middle class is essential for a vibrant democracy and a healthy economy—and for our conception of what America is all about,” suggests an August report on the Center for American Progress website.
Young Americans no longer have the same opportunities as their forefathers. Prospects to move up have become scarce and remaining or moving into the middle class is becoming more and more difficult, affecting this country’s economic progress.
“It is becoming harder for Americans to join the middle class. … The likelihood that a child born poor will rise into the middle class has declined significantly over recent decades,” according to the Center for American Progress report.
The U.S. middle class shrank by 10 percent between 1971 and 2011, that is, from 61 percent to 51 percent, according to the Pew Research Center report “The Lost Decade of the Middle Class,” published on Aug. 22. When compared to countries such as India where the middle class is growing steadily, the U.S. middle class is not only decreasing in number, but their economic wherewithal is going south.
via Middle-Class America at Risk | Economy & Trade | Business | Epoch Times.
