The Six Reasons Americans Fall Out Of The Middle Class

[abelenkpe]

The Six Reasons Americans Fall Out Of The Middle Class

http://247wallst.com/2011/09/09/the-six-reasons-americans-fall-out-of-the-middle-class/

Seems as though the American Dream is just that — a dream. If you were born into a middle class family, there is a high chance that you’ll end up falling down the economic ladder into a lower class, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. And while your parents profession or your race are a good predictor of where you’ll end up if you didn’t start in the middle class, they’re not very helpful if you were born into it. 24/7 Wall St. has reviewed a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts to identify the six traits that can contribute to a person’s likelihood of falling out of that economic group.

It is widely assumed that children will end up financially better than their parents. But “Downward Mobility from the Middle Class,” a study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts, reports that a staggering third of Americans raised in the middle class fall out of it as adults. The middle class is defined by Pew as those between the 30th and 70th percentiles of the income distribution, making below $110,600 and above $53,900.

(snip)

5. Less than some college
> Men: 13.1 percentage points
> Women: 9.5 percentage points

Men with a high school diploma or less are 13 percentage points more likely to fall out of the middle class than men who have at least some college education. The amount falls to 9.5 percentage point for women. This may be the result of employers increasingly expecting employees to have some amount of post-secondary education. According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, people with a high school diploma or less are accounting for an increasingly small percentage of the workforce. “In 1970, nearly three-quarters of those workers considered to be middle class had not gone beyond high school in their education; in 2007, that figure had dropped below 40 percent,” according to an article published in The New York Times.

(more at link)


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lack of education, hard drugs, divorce...and they effect men and women differently...interesting article check it out.

[maxsolomon]

1. they forgot NO JOB!

how many people take that military test? i sure didn't.

[William769]

2. Self delete.

Posted wrong place.

[William769]

3. Does two of them have to do with Presidents?

[abelenkpe]

11. no nothing with presidents :) nt

[Claudia Jones]

4. wow

It is all our fault!

Thanks for the "insightful analysis and commentary for US and global equity investors" from the "Wall Street 24/7" website.

[Warpy]

5. What a load of crap

Divorced women fall out of the middle class when they are faced with women's wages and no child support. Divorced men actually see a rise in financial health.

Any sort of health issue can cost insurability and believe me, employers look at this stuff. Healthcare is a major cause of bankruptcy and can certainly bust people back to the working class or below.

Having too many birthdays can also cost that middle class position since most corporations look at their older workers as being disposable and cheaper to replace with young trainees.

Career choice can also shove people down a class. A lot of careers have limited lifespans, some you wouldn't think of like engineering. A lot of engineers find themselves obsolete in their mid to late 40s and have to turn to management or sales. Some chose the "wrong" fields like IT in the 90s, a ticket to long term unemployment in the 00s. Most teachers can kiss being middle class goodbye in this ridiculous country.

Timing it wrong. People who bought houses in the later years of the boom are now experiencing a bust, paying much more to keep the roof over their heads than the place could be worth at resale. As other things have inflated in price and wages have stagnated, they're being squeezed out of the middle class.

Debt, in general, is pushing people who should be middle class down a notch, and I'm talking about long term debt like student loans.

There are other reasons some groups have fallen out of the middle class, like the outright fraud at Enron and by scammers like Madoff. However, these are my six main reasons people fell out and into the working class.

The Wall Street Journal is too busy blaming the poorer for being poorer to notice these factors.

[DJ13]

9. Excellent post

Very well done.

[abelenkpe]

13. Yeah article mentions that women fare much worse in divorce than men

and I've seen other studies that show women do much worse financially than men after divorce too.

I agree teachers are being pushed out of the middle class mainly because there is a push to pay them less in salary and provide less in benefits. There are those on the right who view teaching as women's work and therefore something that should not require a decent salary.

This study didn't figure in the economic cycles of the housing bust or outsourcing, true. It didn't figure in people having to declare bankruptcy due to medical bills either which for me is a huge omission. The biggest reasons for falling out of the middle class in their view was first: where one started from, then lack of education and falling prey to addiction to something as destructive as heroine. Those things are true at any time which you gotta admit is a sad statement on society. All those on the right screaming that we don't need affirmative action or efforts to provide extra opportunities to those not born wealthy are clearly full of it. Addiction? It's a killer. We need programs to help people rehabilitate from this sickness not throw them in jail. Divorce still adversely effects women more than men? That should not be in a fair and equal society. Clearly this study shows we are not equal, and that our society still needs to work on these things despite republican claims to the contrary.

Yes it's a stupid article from the stupid wall street journal, but it still shows that liberal efforts to provide opportunities to those unfortunate enough to not be born wealthy are needed. That there is still inequality between the sexes. And that education is the key to maintaining a healthy middle class. So if it's key, then why are we de-funding it? Why are we slashing teachers salaries and benefits? Why are we encouraging people to dismantle public education? So, it's a win because idiot republicans will read an article that makes liberal points without coming from a liberal. Of course they may be too stupid to understand it....

[pitohui]

6. the link is bad or something, the 4 reasons (2 are missing) make no sense

reason no. 6 is said to be the armed forces test, i don't know how taking a test would make you fall out of the middle class

two of the reasons given, being single and being divorced, are really much the same reason

two reasons, no. 5 and no. 2, are missing, or at least i can't see them

the reasons people fall out of the middle class down here in the real world are things like serious illness (can't work), serious injury (can't work), no jobs (and there will never again be enough jobs for everyone who wants to work, there are 7 billion people in the world and we simply don't have that many jobs that need the doing)

none of those three key reasons for becoming more are even mentioned, unless they are part of the two "missing links" i can't see

the article appears to be badly written and mostly aimed at slamming victims of divorce, yes, divorce destroys wealth but what do you suggest in its place? for a woman to remain w. her abuser until she is killed? for a man to remain w. a drug addict until he is financially and emotionally destroyed? no one gets married hoping to get divorced, a lot of times it is a disaster that happens to people which they choose because the alternative is even worse

[hifiguy]

7. This much at least is true

"The greatest predictor of a person’s class as an adult is the class of the parents, regardless of outside attributes such as race and education."

Born lower middle class. Dropped out of high school at 16 but got got my GED and went on to receive my B.A. summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from my home state's top-shelf public university and added a Harvard J.D. (B+ average) to that. I made $60K/year for twenty months and have never again come close to that in the last thirteen years. And I never will.

The only one of those things that applies to me is that I have never been married - and never will be.

[DrunkenBoat]

8. The middle class is defined...as those between the 30th and 70th percentiles of the income

distribution, making below $110,600 and above $53,900."


This story was posted earlier but the numbers were stated as $35K to 65K.

why the difference?

[FreeJoe]

10. Inflation

[abelenkpe]

14. Dunno didn't write article. nt

[Quantess]

12. Blame the victims.

:thumbsdown:

It's fairly interesting, and I don't doubt the veracity at all. Still, this is missing the bigger picture: We have been ripped off for no fault of our own!

[abelenkpe]

15. True. nt

[OHdem10]

16. Reports show there are a lot of people with college degrees -

who have lost jobs.

[abelenkpe]

17. Yes there are

But those with college degrees have a much better chance at getting a job than those that don't.

Of everyone I know, those without a degree are hurting far worse than those with. How is it for you and the people you know?

[Quantess]

18. If you have a college degree, chances are you have debt.

And I mean, a lot of debt! More debt than you can realistically pay off in less than 5 or 10, or even 25 years, generally speaking.

[abelenkpe]

19. Yeah maybe

Many I know have no debt, but many do. They still have good paying jobs and are able to service their debt vs friends and relatives I have with no degree who are either bankrupt, unemployed or seriously struggling. I'd rather have debt and a good job than little chance at a job.

[Quantess]

20. Yep, that would be me

that I am speaking of.
And yes, I have debt and a chance of a good job maybe someday.

One of my best friends worked (I did too) while she got her Bachelors, struggled and struggled to find a job after graduating, finally landed a job with really terrible pay. But at least she could finally get health insurance after the 3 month waiting period. Good thing she got/kept the job, because she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and needs a double masectomy to save her life.

Almost everyone I know in the USA is struggling more than previously, and has been hit hard.
It's like we're fighting over scraps. This is what We Americans have been reduced to!

[abelenkpe]

21. O! I hope you find a good job soon

It did take a year for me to get a break after leaving college. So sorry to hear about your friend, but good that she has health insurance. Wish we had single payer though so no one would be left out.

[mdmc]

22. ..