Reply to What is Middle Class....Really?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
You can define middle class but hhi or by lifestyle. That's where the confusion is. Both answers are correct[/quote]
No they are not.  People seem to want to define middle class lifestyle by some nostalgic view of the '50s.  The "middle" can't afford all of the things people are suggesting should be part of this lifestyle: short-ish commute, 4 BR house, 2 cars, vacations, savings for college & retirement, etc.  Calling these things a "middle-class" lifestyle when they are out of reach for 90% of the country is part of the problem OP is getting at.

You can argue that the majority of Americans *should* be able to afford these things, but the reality is that a tiny fraction in either DC or Peoria can.  That's why they are angry and looking for change.  Burying your head in the sand and complaining that DC is expensive doesn't change this.[/quote]

Why do they get angry at the government? Get higher education, start a business, work multiple jobs. Nobody ever said the government was supposed to put you on easy street.[/quote]

+1. PP says complaining that dc is expensive doesn't change anything, but what does getting angry at the government accomplish either? Perhaps an adjustment of expectations is in order, because people are getting thrown off by the 50's model. Anyone who can afford the things most of the middle class did back then is now upper class. [/quote]
It's even worse than that. In the 1950s, a man ALONE - with a SAHP - could buy a three-bedroom house in a nice close-in suburb, take the family out to diner at least once a week, buy clothes for the family at mid-range stores like Macy's, and afford a two-week driving vacation to California, stopping at the National Parks. Nowadays, it takes both parents working, and with the median income of $100,000 per family, would be hard-pressed to enjoy that lifestyle.

In other words, it used to take one man (we're taking 1950s, so I'm saying the man) earning a median income to afford a middle-class lifestyle. Now it takes TWO parents working, and the median income (factoring in a couple of kiddos) is not in the same class.

So PP is right....anyone enjoying a typical middle-class lifestyle today needs an upper-level income.[/quote]

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