Happy Labor Day – the economy sucks!
Many of you SHTF blog readers I’m sure have today off, but no break here, bloggers don’t get paid the BIG bucks unless we keep writing. No paid holidays for us, so go use my Amazon search bar to buy something, will ya?
Will blog for Amazon commission!
The economy, presently sitting in the potty waiting for a flush, has meant fewer people are now able to reach “middle-class” status according to a recent article on Yahoo Finance where it states:
Today, the middle class is a vanishing breed according to nearly every survey and statistic on the topic. Its disappearance is of such grave concern to the fabric of American society that the U.S. government launched a task force to explore the issue. Despite all of the attention to the subject, defining “middle class” remains a challenge, as everyone wants to be in the middle regardless of their income.
Are YOU middle-class?
Six signs you have made it to the middle-class:
- Home Ownership – when you move from renter to home owner you purchase an asset
- Automobile Ownership – your vehicle choice (cost) may impact the success or failure of other financial goals
- College Education for Kids – helping kids get ahead is a goal valued by most parents
- Retirement Security – fewer people, with the end of employer pension plans and the stock market plunge, have a harder time reaching retirement security
- Health Care Coverage – health care costs are rising for everyone and adequate health care coverage is more difficult to obtain
- Family Vacation – the financial ability to vacation implies a level of financial success
Whether you agree with the 6 criteria or not (I agree with some, but not others), there is little doubt that a “middle-class” lifestyle (however you define it) is becoming an increasingly difficult goal to achieve. Why exactly? The writer states:
Globalization and technological advances began to reverse the growth of the middle class. The manufacturing base in the United States changed, as good-paying jobs in factories and heavy industries went overseas to lower-paying markets and labor unions lost much of their ability to bargain for high wages and good benefits. Later, white-collar jobs from accounting and data entry to reading medical images and answering telephones in call centers were also sent offshore. Many jobs that remained in the U.S. were eliminated by computers and other technological advancements that increased productivity.
So are you bumming that you didn’t make it to “middle class”? Wait – there’s good news! CNBC reports that economists see gloom and doom ahead – especially for the U.S. …. oops – did I say good news?
- Ranger Man
BTW: If you like any of the buttons pictured in this post, they’re $2.00 each at Creative Blok.
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{ 6 comments }
I just watched Obama’s speech the other day. He said everything was going to be alright. He needs to cut back on the beer summits.
middle class is not a lifestyle, or an income level.
middle class is about how you make your living.
if you are working at a job, and have no “management” duties, you are in the working class. working for yourself, (in your own or a shared enterprize or business) is what makes someone, “middle class”. ( i would also include people with managerial duties, especially middle and upper managers, in the middle class)
…but then again, if someone else can lay you off, you aren’t as “middle class” as you thought you were.
It is a mistake to use the downward trendline during a recession to claim the end of the middle class. It would equally be a mistake to pick the top of the most recent bubble to claim all the poor would soon be middle class. In a free country people pretty much rise to their level of competence. Many in the poorer class are there as a direct result of chemical dependency and/or mental issues. Most in the middle class are there as a result of hard work and intelligent care of their assets. When the economy once again booms (and it will) even those who are unemployed today will get another chance to become solidly middle class.
Most Americans like to think of themselves as middle class but aren’t; technically most are lower class. Nothing is set in stone, a lot of overlap, and someone w/o a HS diploma and create work/income level to be considered upper-middle or lower-upper class. Or someone with a PhD could be doing lower-lower class work.
As I recall from my college days, class is not strictly defined and generally consists of a combination of occupation, education, and income, with three general categories subdivided into eight levels;
Upper Class, i.e. filthy rich, education & occupation don’t matter (about 1%);
1) Upper-upper class – old money
2) Lower-upper class – new money
Middle Class, usually white collar and college degree but w/some high paying blue collar jobs (about 35%);
3) Upper-middle class – Physicians, attorneys, other highly paid professionals, almost always with advanced education
4) Middle-middle class – Almost always degreed, good pay less than upper-middle class
5) Lower-middle class – Highly skilled labor, blue collar managers, low-level while collar jobs, managers, supervisors
Lower Class, blue collar, usually not degreed (about 65%);
6) Upper-lower class – Skilled labor, blue collar supervisors
7) Middle-upper class – Semi-skilled labor, non-supervisory
8) Lower-lower class – Unskilled labor
Alan Greenspan warned then Presidents Clinton and Bush that the middle class were being erroded and eliminated from the U.S. He told them if this happens the U.S. economy WILL collapse. That was 10-12 years ago I think. Looks like Greenspan knew his sh*t……