I think it is all about were the money is and most prople lie about what they have!! They say they are broke and i say bullshit I am broke , in my pockets, wallete and bank account are all 0!! Its a dollar bill world and i usually only have a pocket of change!!

My gross per year is $27,000.00. I direct deposit eath moth a netnof $2170. My bills are 1841.00. 2170-1841 expenses leave me with ant unexpeted income expenses plus food. $329.00 doesn't begin to cover exter small insurance bills and food. This is how the middle class lives now. I am 70 with dissibilities, so working I am probably going to try, but my upper left arm is broke and the rotator as well. It is my primary arm and does little. It is permantly damaged and no guarantee surgery would fix it. So, I am educated. I have a degree in electircal engeneering and a degree in computer systems, so I did at one time make a great salary.

It started being destroyed by Reagan and it has been downhill since then..Union busting, making America more competitive..creating parttime positions, wage stagnation have all lead to the slow painful death(economic murder) of the Middleclass.

Actually Goodwill pays a better wage than minimum. Much better than the government or our leader 45 pays his help.

I would tend to agree. Anyone working for a wage below 100K is pretty much a slave to current market conditions, ie. wages, prices, taxes, all add up to a very wealthy upper class and poor everyone else

The problem of the dwindling middle class is systemic. I think the problem is the backward system we have that cuts taxes for businesses and raises them on people. Those people's money goes to the businesses who don't pay their share and sell or produce products to the people footing their bills. It is a system designed to be predatory and not at all how taxes are supposed to work here. Also if you want affordable health care you need to regulate the health field and health insurance companies, not the people. The same goes for any market. This unregulated market thing isn't law, it's a business practice. Also having some real backing on our currency will help stabilize inflation. In addition to that the federal reserve is a private for profit company. That needs to change. Our entire system needs to be restored, it has been hijacked by criminals and cultures.

Its the Haves and Have Nots. Not hard to figure out which one your in.

I am in the middle class but I can easily believe that the middle class is shrinking as the 1%'s wealth grows. The 1% buys our politicians and these politicians work to enrich the 1% at the expense of the middle class and everyone else.

There are still a few hanging on to their Middle Class status.
I think mostly, the working poor have taken the place of what used to
be the Middle Class.

I think there's one too many words in that statement. There is no class in America now

It's there, but shrinking. Fighting for it's existance is damned as socialism (a deep and bitter irony)

I don't think so, and I believe that I would be lower middle class or upper lower class, considering I make less than 30k a year. And in my corner of the world one income will not pay your rent, never mind utilities and food. I was lucky finding the place my hubby and I stay, however I have to commute 80 miles round trip to afford to live. All my coworkers tell me to move closer and I laugh at them, then tell them my rent (735 aonth, most utilities included) and they get mad because I'm paying half of what they are in rent alone, but I drive more. One person I used to work with actually called me a liar and accused me of squatting/living out of my truck because there is no rent below 1000. I laughed even harder, having to take a break off the work floor to catch my breath. And my job actually pays "well" in this area.

In the UK, USA and Oz I think the middle class is under attack and losing.
The gap between rich and poor is growing, as in ecology, energy moves up the food chain, but fewer species as you go up the levels, eventually there is the top predator.
Few people are becomming ultra rich, many people are getting poorer.

Middle class, it depends on how you define a middle class. A lot of people get caught up in trying to keep up with the Joneses when the Joneses are up to their neck in debt.
There is a smaller middle class than decades past but if people start fighting for higher wages, affordable health care, public transportation and affordable housing we would be a lot better off.

I think they are probably right statistically...but I also believe we should not get caught up in what pronouncements are made about living in this or any other country! We need food, water, shelter and some healthcare. Cloths can be obtained at thrift stores, if money is really tight. I feel lIke there are unknown forces, trying to squeeze us into a proverty mentality! One, where we are lacking in almost everything...and taking us hostage for Healthcare. I have this idea in my mind, from the media that in the not to distant future, people will be only able to afford healthcare and hardly anything else! I think we are being undermined. There is a way to live in this country, and by damned, we will find it!

Studies have shown that the cost of living keeps rising, but the minimum wage stays low. I believe that it is $7.25 an hour nationally (here in Nevada it is $8.25). Most places to rent are over $1000 per month, but financial councillors say to keep your rent below 1/3 of what you make each month. So, if someone is working 40 hours every week at minimum wage, it is nearly impossible to provide for yourself. Plus, there are also other bills that need to be paid. People need to eat, etc. Not to mention the fact that some people have kids that need to be provided for. Even if the minimum wage went up to $15 an hour (which many are fighting for), it would still not equal up to the cost of living. There have been many studies done on this proving this point. The minimum wage should actually be well over $20 an hour, but I'm not sure if that would even count as middle class in a single parent home.

Sorry for the rant, but yeah, I think the middle class is something of the past.

It's pretty much gone, yeah.

Dwindling rapidly.

There is very little class of any kind in America.