WASHINGTON, April 9, 2008
Middle Class Feeling The Financial Squeeze
Study: More Middle-Class Americans Say They Aren't Better Off Than They Were 5 Years Ago
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(CBS/AP)
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Their short-term assessment of personal progress, according to the study, is the worst it's been in nearly half a century.
The survey by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based organization, paints a mixed picture for the 53 percent of adults in the country who define themselves as "middle class," with household incomes ranging from below $40,000 to more than $100,000.
It found that a majority of Americans said they haven't progressed in the last five years. One in four, or 25 percent, said their economic situation had not improved, while 31 percent said they had fallen backward. Those numbers together are the highest since the survey question was first asked in 1964. Among the middle class, 54 percent said they had made no progress (26 percent) or fallen back (28 percent).
Asked about their financial experiences in the past year, 53 percent of middle-class people said they had to cut spending because money was tight. About one in five said they had trouble getting or paying for medical care, while 10 percent reported they had been laid off or otherwise lost their jobs.
Looking ahead to the coming year, half of the middle class surveyed said they expected to have to cut more spending. Among those employed, one in four, or 25 percent, expressed worries that they would be laid off, that their job would be outsourced or that their employer would relocate in the coming year, while 26 percent were concerned that they would see cuts in salary or health benefits.
Middle-class prosperity overall also lagged compared with richer Americans. From 1983 to 2004, the median net worth of upper-income families - defined as households with annual incomes above 150 percent of the median - grew by 123 percent, while the median net worth of middle-income families rose by just 29 percent.
At the same time, most middle-class people remained upbeat when asked to measure their progress over a longer timeframe, although their level of optimism lagged behind their richer counterparts. Two-thirds, or 67 percent, of middle-class Americans say their standard of living is better than the one their parents enjoyed at the age they are now.
In contrast, 80 percent of richer people said they exceeded their parents' standard of living. Among the lower class, only 49 percent reported better conditions.
"It's been a lousy run for the American economy and people feel it," said Paul Taylor, director of Pew's Social & Demographic Trends project and lead author of the study. He noted that people's pessimism largely tracks annual median household income, which has seen little gain in recent years. Middle-class people also may be disproportionately feeling the pinch because they tend to borrow more heavily against their homes to support their lifestyles, Taylor said.
"Still, over a span of a generation, it's been a pretty good run, even as there are some recent pressures that I think people are feeling," he said.
The Pew poll involved telephone interviews with 2,413 adults, conducted from Jan. 24 to Feb. 19. The margin of sampling error was 2.5 percentage points.
Among the other findings:
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Add a Comment See all 95 Comments
- I''''m sure that the Senior Management teams of all the oil companies and the Banks and brokers who caused this credit crunch and housing problems. Haven''''t been impacted at all. Oh and nether has anyone of the members of Congress or the Senate, on both aisles.
Posted by enriquecalie
You are probabl correct. You treat both sides of the aisle equally, something few posters are willing to do. Many Democratic and Republican legislators are wealthy and problably remain unfazed by the economic problems facing this country. - Reply to this comment
- Middle Class Take Action Federation www.theoandavirus.com
- Reply to this comment
- I''m sure that the Senior Management teams of all the oil companies and the Banks and brokers who caused this credit crunch and housing problems. Haven''t been impacted at all. Oh and nether has anyone of the members of Congress or the Senate, on both aisles.
- Reply to this comment
- I say loveee, shall we forego the sushi tonight? We can try one of these burger things everyone is talking about. Let''s be daring and walk over, we can leave the BMW at home.
Poor yuppies. - Reply to this comment
- mariony...bravo for you as a single mom and going green! We too do the same, second hand shops, garage sales, USED cars, etc. We also only have 1 tv (no cable) and we enjoy nature. Haven''t done the garden thing yet. But will in the near future...again bravo to you for what you did (BTW...I''m a secretary too...love the job, pay is about what you got!)
- Reply to this comment
- concorde5....I use to be single with a child (my first daughter I adopted as a single mom and raised her for 5 years, and I didn''t know about her medical conditions until she was about 13 months old)...anyway, as a single mom I made it and did have crisis. But again I started planning, saving, and being careful with money at an early age. When I did have debt I set up a plan to take care of it and I did take care of it. It can be done.
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- simpsonman19 and Bikermomx2 are correct: reduce, save and conserve. I raised 3 daughters - alone - for 15 years on a secretary''s salary of $25,000 (avg) from 1983 to 1998. I cooked all meals, had no debt, bought 2nd hand clothing for all of us and managed to save $40,000 over that period (with matching bonus help from employer) to be able to pay a down payment on a modest home in 2000. There was little help from anyone during those years, and we had several hardships to overcome. Today, I am retired and have time to grow a vegetable garden, retrofit my home for solar/energy conservation to live off the grid, and have completed my emergency disaster supplies. This is not to boast. Rather, it is to enlighten others to get your priorities in order, stop living like the TV says, live way beneath your means and train your family to do likewise. Your health (mental, physical, spiritual) is your wealth...not the accumulation of things and what others think of you. This is your chance to finally get it right, help your country and help the world. You know what to do better than anyone else.
BTW, we didn''t lose 80,000 jobs last month. We actually lost 147,000. Distortions, deceptions and lies. http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/Issues.aspx?NewsletterEntryId=1640 - Reply to this comment
- We don''t need no stinking middle class. Just rich, and slaves. Everyone else can leave.
- Reply to this comment
- Productivity of American workers from 2000 to present is up 20% (people doing jobs of two workers, computer technology, etc.) while real wages are stagnant and even falling.
Make any sense? Can anybody figure out where all the money is going? Into the hands of the already rich, who have had their taxes slashed since Bush took office.
We are being hosed.
Here are some interesting facts about the economy under Bush:
www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp195 - Reply to this comment
- Posted by JackKnows
I am so glad you have all this delusional knowledge.
because it is clear in reality JackKnows Nothing, About me or the facts of life. It also seems you can''t read a posting correctly. We were talking about skilled jobs, Try learning fundamental reading skills 101, before you shout your mouth off. - Reply to this comment
- protectionism is the answer. We need leaders who will put Americans 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. If other countries can become a little better off in the process thats fine, but not if we have to sacrifice. I work 50 hours a week and will not accept not having cash to take vacations and buy nice cars ect. If the current situation keeps up american workers need to slow down, make sure that if we are getting less everyone else is as well, including shareholders and CEOs.
We also need to place tarriffs on foriegn goods. This would influence americans to buy american and whoever dominates the American market is going to have the most money. It is time to let other coutries fend for themselves and take back our country for us. - Reply to this comment
- Folks,
It amazing how Americans scream about Undocumented Aliens taking jobs such as house cleaning, landscaping, farming, construction, restaurants, janitorial and many others that American do not want.
However, Americans are very quiet when high-pay, high-tech and professional jobs that American do want and need are outsourced and insourced (H1B visas). - Reply to this comment
- I am not about to be picking potatoes and vegetables that the ******** are. I am not about to travel from the south in picking season to the north, to the west etc etc. I am against this illegal immigrants being shipped out or blocked out or however we end up keeping them away. they are a neccesssary part of our work force, they do the jobs that others won''t. So navpro, if you lost your job as a taxpayer to an illegal you must not have been doing good at it. WE NEED PICKERS and I *** well am not going to do it
- Reply to this comment
- this is an addition to my last entry:
Middle Class Americans have no other options but to change your Expensive LifeStyle since the Forces of Capitalism is already lowering your standard of living anyway. - Reply to this comment
- Folks,
The ultimate solution to this Middle Class Financial Squeeze issue is for Americans to change their expensive LifeStyle. Once Americans make their lifestyle less expensive, then their standard of living should come down. Once their standard of Living comes down, then they can afford to live on a cheap foreign H1B visa worker wage. Once middle class American can live on a cheap H1B worker wages, then there is no Capitalism Forces demanding cheaper foreign workers or outsourcing of our jobs.
So Idiot Middle Class Americans, lower your Standard of Living by changing your Expensive LifeStyle. - Reply to this comment
- Okay kiddies...here it is in a nutshell:
Bush has betrayed us with with an illegal war that is costing $10 billion each and every month... http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home , a corrupt Federal Reserve that is bailing out the banks and robbing Americans... http://www.courtfool.info/en_Cost_abuse_and_danger_of_the_dollar.htm , http://viewzone.com/pipeline.html , and neocon Zionists with an agenda for world domination...http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JD10Ak04.html , http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1321&thisview=item . If you want the truth, don''t exist our media to help you http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/ . Inform yourself and be prepared... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOZ4G7080Jc . - Reply to this comment
- simpsonman19, I like your attitude, and it''s great to see that you''re staying ahead of the curve, and planning for the inevitible crash, but understand, like the rest of us who are trying to do the same as you, but once kids get added to the equation, costs rise expotentally, and no one here anticipated gasoline prices to rise as much as they have 5 years ago, as well as insurances, etc. and only receiving a 5% pay raise (if you''re lucky) every year to meet expenses that have increased 11-25% the same time. Best of luck to you!
- Reply to this comment
- Navpro.....Agreed.
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- Bikermom.....What if you''re a single parent with a single income? A job loss would cripple you. A severe illness would cripple you.
It''s not all about managing money properly. You can get to a point where there is simply not enough money to make it on. - Reply to this comment
- Our politicians have sold us out to the highest bidder.
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Posted by concorde5 at 12:16
I am not arguing that fact, you are 100% correct.
I am just saying what jobs remain here. More and more American citizens are being forced out by illegals and lower pay.
Second, by simpsonman19
I admire what you are doing, just don''t condemn all others because they are in debt. - Reply to this comment
