US middle class slips drastically as rich prosper
Source: Agencies |
August 24, 2012, Friday
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THE US middle class has shrunk drastically over the last 10 years as Americans' net worth has plunged, wages declined and standards of living slipped, according to a report released this week.
Middle-income earners, long seen as the solid center of the country, are pessimistic and place the blame squarely on US lawmakers, banks and big business, the findings by the Pew Research Center showed.
"There's been a very steady, long-term shrinkage" in the number of people in the middle class, said Paul Taylor, executive vice president for nonpartisan research group. "There's also less money in the middle." Since 2001, median household income has fallen from US$72,956 to US$69,487 in 2010, the report said.
The median household net worth, which is the value of assets minus debt, dropped from US$129,582 to US$93,150 over the same 10-year period, according to Pew, which analyzed US data along with its own survey of nearly 1,300 adults who consider themselves middle class.
The center's snapshot comes amid a close presidential campaign that has become in part a referendum on whether President Barack Obama's policies have helped Americans as the nation struggles to recover from deep economic woes.
Republican rival Mitt Romney, a multimillionaire former private equity executive and one of the richest men to run for president, has based his campaign on a pledge to build jobs and boost the economy. But Pew's survey found more of the middle class support Obama's policies than Romney's.
More than half - 52 percent - of those polled said Obama's policies would help the middle class in a second term, while 39 percent say they would not. Forty-two percent said Romney would benefit middle income Americans if elected, while 40 percent say his policies would not help, the survey showed. That may not be surprising given that the poll also found half the middle class adults polled leaned Democratic while 39 percent identified more with Republicans. Eleven percent were drawn to neither. Still, researchers said they found that "neither candidate has sealed the deal with them."
The wealthy have also seen their share of total US household income rise, it found. Upper income earners held 46 percent of the nation's household income in 2010 compared to 29 percent in 1970. In comparison, the middle class' share of income fell to 45 percent from 62 percent over the same period, and lower income earners share stayed flat at about 10 percent.
Middle-income earners, long seen as the solid center of the country, are pessimistic and place the blame squarely on US lawmakers, banks and big business, the findings by the Pew Research Center showed.
"There's been a very steady, long-term shrinkage" in the number of people in the middle class, said Paul Taylor, executive vice president for nonpartisan research group. "There's also less money in the middle." Since 2001, median household income has fallen from US$72,956 to US$69,487 in 2010, the report said.
The median household net worth, which is the value of assets minus debt, dropped from US$129,582 to US$93,150 over the same 10-year period, according to Pew, which analyzed US data along with its own survey of nearly 1,300 adults who consider themselves middle class.
The center's snapshot comes amid a close presidential campaign that has become in part a referendum on whether President Barack Obama's policies have helped Americans as the nation struggles to recover from deep economic woes.
Republican rival Mitt Romney, a multimillionaire former private equity executive and one of the richest men to run for president, has based his campaign on a pledge to build jobs and boost the economy. But Pew's survey found more of the middle class support Obama's policies than Romney's.
More than half - 52 percent - of those polled said Obama's policies would help the middle class in a second term, while 39 percent say they would not. Forty-two percent said Romney would benefit middle income Americans if elected, while 40 percent say his policies would not help, the survey showed. That may not be surprising given that the poll also found half the middle class adults polled leaned Democratic while 39 percent identified more with Republicans. Eleven percent were drawn to neither. Still, researchers said they found that "neither candidate has sealed the deal with them."
The wealthy have also seen their share of total US household income rise, it found. Upper income earners held 46 percent of the nation's household income in 2010 compared to 29 percent in 1970. In comparison, the middle class' share of income fell to 45 percent from 62 percent over the same period, and lower income earners share stayed flat at about 10 percent.
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