The Middle Class in America Is Radically Shrinking. Here Are the Stats to Prove it

The 22 statistics detailed here prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America.

• 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
• 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
• 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
• 36 percent of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.
• A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
• 24 percent of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
• Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
• Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
• For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
• In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
• As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
• The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
• Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
• In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
• The top 1 percent of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
• In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
• More than 40 percent of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
• or the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
• This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
• Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years.
• Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009.
• The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income.

finance.yahoo.com

Somehow link isn't working correctly...just copy and paste this....."http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/the-u.s.-middle-class-is-being-wiped-out-here's-the-stats-to-prove-it-520657.html?tickers=^DJI,^GSPC, SPY,MCD,WMT,XRT,DIA"

Sobering.

I've been saying it for awhile now...while a ton of you on ATS keep crying for the EXTREMELY WEALTHY...the rest of this country is losing everything.

This country is nothing without a strong middle class.....which was the greatest middle class the world has ever seen.


[edit on 24-7-2010 by David9176]

mod edit, attempt to fix link

[edit on Sun Jul 25 2010 by DontTreadOnMe]

Thanks for this post, David. A S&F for you when I post this.

The solution, as I see it, is eliminating class systems altogether via abundance. I know you are aware of what I have presented, but I feel the need to reiterate the fact that the book I cowrote offering a free energy design, and social structure for what amounts to functional "anarchy" is available free here on ATS Media, accessed through the discussion thread linked in my sig.

It is getting closer and closer to the point of no return. We must do something soon.

EDIT for typo.

[edit on 7/24/2010 by Amaterasu]

Well one has to look at the current environment...since so many are pushing to cut social programs.....do we honestly think that is going to make things better?

It's going to make it worse....FAR WORSE. Another thing that amazes me, it's b een widely reported that unemployment will stay near where it is now for years...yet there are many saying to cut off unemployment benefits.

Funny, people are screaming about Socialism and "Wealth Redistribution".

I don't see any wealth redistribution going on here. Looks more like a consolidation to me. There are all the Ayn Rand style arguments to be made, but really...How do you hold up the world when you are standing on top of it?

reply to post by David9176


I agree...except that it will lead to hyperinflation, since there is little money for these programs. So we must get rid of this evil "Federal" "Reserve" system, and what better way to eliminate it than to eliminate the need for money?

"Classes" will then be established based on personal behavior. Those who help others will be revered and at the "top." Those who treat others poorly will become pariah.

THAT's the way *I* think it should be.

reply to post by Amaterasu


I have seen arguments for respect based society before, and they are good ones. However, first things first.

We need to grab control of our government (legally, democratically) ASAP. We really dont have long. They are grabbing for power, and once they get rid of the Constitution, by whatever means, we have no legal recourse.

I just have real doubts. Even fairly intelligent people are on the "globalization is good for us" bandwagon. Despite all evidence to the contrary.

They have declared war on the middle class. When you separate the poor from the rich, you are stripping away all political power from the public. When you combine this with the "security" measures that are being put into place, such as the Patriot Act, HGTP Act, the circumvention of the Posse Commentates Act and the subversion of the Constitution, you can see a clear plan to replace American freedom with American slavery.

Unless a miracle happens, our liberty will forever be lost. Unless the American people act soon, then there won't be anything we can do and sadly, the vast majority of Americans are completely oblivious to what's going on with no hope of the awakining.

--airspoon

The working class wordwide are being turned into slaves..

They will eventually realise this and rise up against their Masters...

Will it happen soon enough?
Will they win??

The solution is to increase the tax on the wealthiest while creating huge tax deductions for investments in new production in the United States. Think of it as a forced trickle down. Which is more or less the way it was during the boom years of the 50s and 60s.

Simply giving those with the most tax cuts does nothing for the economy as we have seen.

This idea of "middle class" is largely a myth. Aside from a caste system based classification system, the American Middle Class was based on money. Since the majority of people in the US, the world, are in debt, the classification is a matter of degree. A homeless person is considered lower class, no money, BUT... that person does not have debt. A family of four with a house (mortgage), two cars (car notes), CC (monthly credit card bills), insurance (debt until used - if ever) is owing more money then the have at any given moment, ergo, is below lower class. The banking families sold the idea that "middle class" means owning a home. Since very few people actually own their home - the have notes, which until paid off means they lease to own from the note holder, there are but a handful of middle class anything. There are the haves, the controllers, and the have-nots, the 6.5 billion others. The degree with which those others fall into a classification is dependent on the amount of money they have at the time of the measurement compared to their debt not the items the claim the have.

The kicker is this. Everyone in the US owes some 500k to the government already, and technically owe way more than that over their lifetime. So, at any given moment, a balance sheet is created on behalf on someone, chances are they are nothing more and indentured servants believing the house and car make them middle class.

reply to post by David9176

Well one has to look at the current environment...since so many are pushing to cut social programs.....do we honestly think that is going to make things better?

It's going to make it worse....FAR WORSE. Another thing that amazes me, it's b een widely reported that unemployment will stay near where it is now for years...yet there are many saying to cut off unemployment benefits.

Yes. With everything that is going on, and what remains to come, we are and will continue to see the middle class descending into the ranks of poverty.

With no support, how will they ever dig their way out?

reply to post by David9176

• 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.


I'll like to see another set of figures showing WHO pays the most in taxation....

I'm guessing the Middle Class wins again!!

Too bad, really. Can this country really afford to lose the class that pays the bulk of the taxes? An even further erosion of the tax base?

Yes, this war started in earnest when Reagan took office.

As for taking back our government? How? At the state level is how. But is anyone doing it? Nope. All talk. Country's so divided we all can't even agree on how to do it, never mind do it.

of course it is

they keep outsourcing,outsourcing and outsourcing jobs are in china now.

guess what the rich class has been shrinking too and so are corporations.

liberal policies and overtaxation are destroying this country.

in my little world you should be able to keep what you EARN- it shouldnt be stolen from you cause some bleeding heart liberal thinks you have to much.

what is expanding in contrast IS THE SOCIAL programs- ie entItlements.


when the there are no rich left in this country who do you think the major tax burden will fall on- the middle class (then the middle class will be the largest dependency class) and when they are no more thats when its over- really over theres an old saying you cant squeeze blood from a turnip.

my thoughts take or leave it:p

fyi the rich class PAY THE MAJORITY OF TAXES

the other side of the middle class issue is most of them do or use to have stocks,bonds,mutals,cds, and money markets and any other investment vehicle.

the over regulation and over taxation of those instruments DO NOT PAY CRAP IN TODAYS TIMES. WHOSE TO BLAME FOR THAT?

liberals you think long and hard on that. the basic credo for todays liberal if YOU HAVE TOO MUCH and others dont.

SIMPLE FACT today anyone who has anything IT WASNT GIVEN TO THEM they didnt sit on there collective ass and begged for it. THEY WORKED FOR IT.



[edit on 24-7-2010 by neo96]

*packs up school books*

Lets do this world. I'm going to jump that class bridge with 88 mph of awesomeness.


Jeez. I can't stand this crap anymore.

We all know what the problems are by now. What the HELL are we going to DO about it? Pray it away? Mind meld it away?

Sad truth is, no one is going to do a damn thing. The people are as unified and as paralyzed as the Congress.

[edit on 7/24/2010 by ~Lucidity]

reply to post by David9176


We have been cutting taxes for the wealthy over the last what? 40 years? and for what? It was only recently the Obama administration increased the taxes for the top 1 percent of earners by something like 2% only for them to go back to Reagan era tax size? We spent nearly $1 trillion on the Bush trickle down tax cuts and what did it give us? Instead it only further dimished the middle class and increase the intake and power of the wealthy, and yet people continue to insist.

I agree with you David that the middle class are an essential foundation to this nation. If we are only looking out for the wealthy, expecting them to create the jobs and move the economy, we will continue on a downward spiral in this nation. But you will not get much support on ATS, this is as much to do about 'sticking me guns to my ideology' than to what this nation needs.

I don't really dispute the idea that the middle class is being wiped out, this stat is a little misleading I think. I read the article as 83% of the value of stocks owned is concentrated in 1% not the number of shares. That would kind of make sense, the wealthier you are the more conservative you would be and the bear market would have hit you less than if you were invested in highly risky stocks.

• 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.

In any event, I know some people want to blame reagan or bush for this current downturn, I would suggest neither or anyone really, (kondratieff), what matters is how we manage it and the current administration has skyrocketed the current deficit and that is what will ultimately destroy this country.
Now consider the collusion amongst the media evidenced in Journolistgate, consider who they champion, and you might consider that the wealthy are not necessarily the enemy.

reply to post by David9176


You know what else? Why do we continue to reward the corporations with lower taxes while they continue to shift our jobs overseas? Ask any Republican or Democrats whether they would support taxing the heck out of businesses who shift jobs overseas and guess what the reply will be? 'we need to tax them less so that they could keep the jobs here'. Really? We only have been cutting taxes for big businesses for the last 40 years at the expense of the middle and lower classes and for what? They continue to shift jobs overseas or pass them onto illegals, and yet we continue to reward them. Its just unbelievable.. and the amount of garbage spewed by the media and even on the internet about how we should continue to reward these businesses, the wealthy. I just do not understand it.