Honey, I Shrunk The Middle Class: Less Than One Third Of Households Qualify | Zero Hedge

Honey, I Shrunk The Middle Class: Less Than One Third Of Households Qualify | Zero Hedge

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

If it takes more than $126,000 to fund a qualitatively defined middle class lifestyle, what sense does it even make to call this "middle"?

The Pew Research Center's recent report The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground: No longer the majority and falling behind financially made a media splash, as it reported that less than 50% of adults are members of the Great American Middle Class.

My analysis suggests that by more qualitative measures, no more than a third of U.S. households qualify as middle class: claiming 49% of the nation's households are still middle class is a gross exaggeration.

My analysis starts with the minimum fundamental lifestyle and wealth requirements of middle class membership: In What Does It Take To Be Middle Class?, I listed these requirements:

Cont......