The Modern Middle Class

There seems to be a lot of talk of the middle-class today. The "war on the middle-class" is often brought up in heated political exchanges between Democrats and Republicans. No doubt, it's a demographic that's definitely getting a lot of attention.

In recent polls by CBS and USA Today, 90% of Americans identify themselves as part of the middle class. That number, in all probability, is way off.......

So, what exactly classifies as the middle class these days? It wasn't so long ago that a household income of $50,000 would bookmark your place in middle class America. But through recent years, that number has went up, especially in places along the east coast. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, the median income of the middle income household in America now stands at roughly $68,000 with the number ballooning up to $85,000 on the east coast. In most cases, both adults contribute to the income pool.

(To put things in perspective, if you earn more than $5000 in China, you're considered part of their middle class. And in a country of roughly 1.3 billion people, only an estimated 500,000 make over $64,000.)

When it comes to home ownership in America, at least according to a recent US News article, the average middle class home is worth $231,000. I expected the number to be slightly higher, but the overall decline in the housing market in recent years likely had a pronounced effect on this value. The average size of a middle class home is 2300 square feet.

A top priority for middle-class parent is making sure their kids go to college. A college degree certainly improves the kid's chance of joining the middle class (or better) in their adult years. A person with only a high school diploma is estimated to make $1.3 million over his/her lifetime. However, those with a bachelor's degree can expect to earn roughly double that. And those with doctorate degrees will likely make over $3 million during their lifetime. Something that I found interesting......an average middle class family sets aside $4100 for their kid's college expenses. At the same time, they take one to two vacations a year at roughly $3000 a pop.

And where do the bulk of the middle class people shop? Well, it probably won't come as a surprise, you'll  be more likely to spot a middle class family in Target or Sears rather than K-Mart or Walmart. The average Target shopper has a household income of about $61,000 with Walmart shoppers bringing in roughly $10,000 less.

Politically, I actually expected to see the middle class weighted heavily on the Republican side. However, in a recent Pew survey, only 25% of the middle class align themselves with the GOP. Democrats come in with 34%. And interesting enough, the largest group (Independent) came in at 35%.

There was a time when the middle class was thought of as mainly white-collar workers. That has shifted a bit as a "secure" job is now more important than wearing a white collar when it comes hanging with the middle class folks. Case in point, according to another article I read, only 66% of American males were employed as recently as 2010. If jobs continue to disappear, can the middle class be that far behind?

There seems to be a general feeling that the middle class hurts the most in a struggling economy. Many people believe that the rich will always be financially self-sufficient while the lower class will always have an advocate in the form of the Uncle Sam. I'm sure there's at least some truth to both sides, but from a first hand experience, it sure seems like the middle class doesn't get some of the breaks of the other two groups.

In recent years, the middle class has seen their cost-of-living expenses rise dramatically (gas, food, healthcare, etc.) while only receiving modest (if any at all) income increases. As a result, many families essentially take a indirect pay cut every year. The numbers will inevitably continue to shift up and down causing the middle class to make necessary adjustments.

As a kid, I can remember making $10 or $20 shoveling snow or mowing neighborhood lawns. At least for a day or so, I felt like a king. I had more than enough money to pay for my life's essentials: Yoo-Hoo's, Tasty-Kakes and baseball cards. Things have sure gotten a lot more complicated over the years.......

kw