Download or read book Middle Class Meltdown in America written by Kevin T Leicht and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-17 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In accessible prose for North American undergraduate students, this short text provides a sociological understanding of the causes and consequences of growing middle class inequality, with an abundance of supporting, empirical data. The book also addresses what we, as individuals and as a society, can do to put middle class Americans on a sounder footing.
Download or read book The Shrinking Middle Class written by Emanuel Collado and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2010-03-22 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The middle class of our society has an important roleacting as the glue that holds the upper and lower classes together. But what will happen if the middle class crumbles? The Shrinking Middle Class is a comprehensive study of the economic meltdown and its long-term effects on the middle class. Emanuel Collado is a self-made businessman who focuses the results of his extensive research into a trend first detected in the 1980s. He provides fascinating case studies of middle class families, alarming statistics, and causes of the current economic crisis that both the United States and the world face. As Collado compares past decisions with current issues, he offers explanations for why America has such a disparity in our society and where the social fabric is being skewed to expand at both ends and grow thinner in the middle. Not so long ago, being middle class meant a reliable job with good pay, a home, access to health care, good education for youth, and a dignified retired life. Collado provides an in-depth look into why the United States is becoming a two-class society and what we can do now to prevent it from happening.
Download or read book Middle Class Meltdown in America written by Kevin T Leicht and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-08-31 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on income alone, nearly half of all adults in the United States can be considered "middle class," complete with the reassurance of a steady job, the ability to raise a family, and the comforts of owning a home. And yet, for many, because of structural forces reshaping the finances of the American middle class, the margin between a stable life and a fragile one is narrowing. The new edition of Middle-Class Meltdown in America: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies tells the story of the struggling American middle class by weaving together sociological and economical research, personalized portraits and examples, and a profusion of current data illustrating significant social, economic, and political trends. The authors extend their analysis to include the COVID-19 pandemic, a focus on the effect of race and ethnicity, as well as the ever-increasing costs of housing, health care, and education. In clear, accessible writing, the authors provide a sociological and balanced understanding of the causes and implications of increasing middle class precarity. Middle-Class Meltdown in America is particularly well-suited for courses in sociology, economics, political science, anthropology, and American Studies.
Download or read book Middle Class America Downward Spiral into Extinction written by and published by Dorrance Publishing. This book was released on with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book America S Shrinking Middle Class written by Vahab Aghai Ph.D. and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2014-08-29 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does a middle class nation do without a middle class? An abundance of evidence suggests that we here in the United States are about to find out. Americas Shrinking Middle Class documents trends that have been building not just since the Great Recession, but for over four decades. In 1970, the share of U.S. income that went to the middle class was 62 percent. By 2010 that figure had fallen to 45 percent. In that same year, the median income for middle class Americans had gone from $72,956 to $69,487 a decline of nearly 5 percent in just one year. A shrinking middle class would mean a shrinking economy and an America dominated by a growing lower class. Life would be less comfortable, less prosperous, and less secure. With less money coming in to government and businesses alike, tax burdens would become onerous. One example: Obamacare. It could cost the average taxpayer nearly $6,000 in extra taxes and create a total of 20 new taxes or tax hikes. For a weakened and shrinking middle class, it could be a fatal blow.
Download or read book Broke written by Katherine Porter and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-11 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About 1.5 million households filed bankruptcy in the last year, making bankruptcy as common as college graduation and divorce. The recession has pushed more and more families into financial collapse—with unemployment, declines in retirement wealth, and falling house values destabilizing the American middle class. Broke explores the consequences of this unprecedented growth in consumer debt and shows how excessive borrowing undermines the prosperity of middle class America. While the recession that began in mid-2007 has widened the scope of the financial pain caused by overindebtedness, the problem predated that large-scale economic meltdown. And by all indicators, consumer debt will be a defining feature of middle-class families for years to come. The staples of middle-class life—going to college, buying a house, starting a small business—carry with them more financial risk than ever before, requiring more borrowing and new riskier forms of borrowing. This book reveals the people behind the statistics, looking closely at how people get to the point of serious financial distress, the hardships of dealing with overwhelming debt, and the difficulty of righting one's financial life. In telling the stories of financial failures, this book exposes an all-too-real part of middle-class life that is often lost in the success stories that dominate the American economic narrative. Authored by experts in several disciplines, including economics, law, political science, psychology, and sociology, Broke presents analyses from an original, proprietary data set of unprecedented scope and detail, the 2007 Consumer Bankruptcy Project. Topics include class status, home ownership, educational attainment, impacts of self-employment, gender differences, economic security, and the emotional costs of bankruptcy. The book makes judicious use of illustrations to present key findings and concludes with a discussion of the implications of the data for contemporary policy debates.
Download or read book The Crisis of the Middle Class Constitution written by Ganesh Sitaraman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this original, provocative contribution to the debate over economic inequality, Ganesh Sitaraman argues that a strong and sizable middle class is a prerequisite for America’s constitutional system. For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues, constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and inescapable—and they designed governments to prevent class divisions from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of America’s republic. Over the next two centuries, generations of Americans fought to sustain the economic preconditions for our constitutional system. But today, with economic and political inequality on the rise, Sitaraman says Americans face a choice: Will we accept rising economic inequality and risk oligarchy or will we rebuild the middle class and reclaim our republic? The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution is a tour de force of history, philosophy, law, and politics. It makes a compelling case that inequality is more than just a moral or economic problem; it threatens the very core of our constitutional system.
Download or read book The Coming Class War and How to Avoid it written by Paul E Peterson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-16 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A clear, accessible analysis of the worsening distribution of income and wealth in America.
Download or read book America at the Precipice Restoring the Plummeting Middle Class Standard of Living written by Gary R. Patterson and published by . This book was released on 2014-07-21 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neither political party has been able to stem the plummeting fall in the Middle Class Standard of Living that has occurred since the Economic Meltdown of 2008. Moreover, in recent years, the average 1%-2% annual Cost of Living Index (CPI) calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics only belies, masks and understates the frightful upsurge in the dominant CPI Index cost components of Health Care, College Tuition, Energy, as well as Federal income tax hikes, which have economically devastated Middle Class Americans over the last five years. Innovative, yet pragmatic and equitable solutions must be formulated to not just stem the rise of these four major CPI cost factors, but go beyond and strive to achieve justifiable, permanent "rollbacks" and cost decreases as well. Together these four specific CPI cost factors have incrementally contributed to an actual, staggering 19% plunge in the American Middle Class Standard of Living just since 2009. And, even though Barack Obama, as President, has presided over this precipitous Middle Class economic decline, alternatively, the Republican Party has, for years, been successfully portrayed by Democrats as being "tone deaf" and indifferent to the plight of Middle Class America. Rightly or wrongly, perceived as primarily safeguarding the financial interests of the Wealthy, the GOP is further regarded by many as failing 1) to elevate and give priority emphasis to the dire economic straits that the Middle Class in America is currently facing and 2) to pro-actively devise specific common sense and apolitical solutions (as presented herein) that are, indeed, justifiably equitable and meant to rectify and justly remediate the disproportionate economic burden that Middle Class Americans have been relegated to endure. Unless and until the Republican Party is perceived as pro-actively adopting a Middle Class priority emphasis, it will continue to struggle to alter its elitest perception in the minds of a wide swath of Middle Class an
Download or read book Third World America written by Arianna Huffington and published by Crown. This book was released on 2010-09-07 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It’s not an exaggeration to say that middle-class Americans are an endangered species and that the American Dream of a secure, comfortable standard of living has become as outdated as an Edsel with an eight-track player. That the United States of America is in danger of becoming a third world nation. The evidence is all around us: Our industrial base is vanishing, taking with it the kind of jobs that have formed the backbone of our economy for more than a century; our education system is in shambles, making it harder for tomorrow’s workforce to acquire the information and training it needs to land good twenty-first century jobs; our infrastructure—our roads, our bridges, our sewage and water, our transportation and electrical systems—is crumbling; our economic system has been reduced to recurring episodes of Corporations Gone Wild; our political system is broken, in thrall to a small financial elite using the power of the checkbook to control both parties. And America’s middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation – that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did. It’s the dark flipside of the American Dream – an American Nightmare of our own making. Arianna Huffington, who, with the must-read Huffington Post, has her finger on the pulse of America, unflinchingly tracks the gradual demise of America as an industrial, political, and economic leader. In the vein of her fiery bestseller Pigs at the Trough, Third World America points fingers, names names, and details who’s killing the American Dream. Finally, calling on the can-do attitude that is part of America’s DNA, Huffington shows precisely what we need to do to stop our freefall and keep America from turning into a third world nation. Third World America is a must-read for anyone disturbed by our country’s steady descent from 20th century superpower to backwater banana republic.
Download or read book The Riches of This Land written by Jim Tankersley and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid character-driven narrative, fused with important new economic and political reporting and research, that busts the myths about middle class decline and points the way to its revival. For over a decade, Jim Tankersley has been on a journey to understand what the hell happened to the world's greatest middle-class success story -- the post-World-War-II boom that faded into decades of stagnation and frustration for American workers. In The Riches of This Land, Tankersley fuses the story of forgotten Americans-- struggling women and men who he met on his journey into the travails of the middle class-- with important new economic and political research, providing fresh understanding how to create a more widespread prosperity. He begins by unraveling the real mystery of the American economy since the 1970s - not where did the jobs go, but why haven't new and better ones been created to replace them. His analysis begins with the revelation that women and minorities played a far more crucial role in building the post-war middle class than today's politicians typically acknowledge, and policies that have done nothing to address the structural shifts of the American economy have enabled a privileged few to capture nearly all the benefits of America's growing prosperity. Meanwhile, the "angry white men of Ohio" have been sold by Trump and his ilk a theory of the economy that is dangerously backward, one that pits them against immigrants, minorities, and women who should be their allies. At the culmination of his journey, Tankersley lays out specific policy prescriptions and social undertakings that can begin moving the needle in the effort to make new and better jobs appear. By fostering an economy that opens new pathways for all workers to reach their full potential -- men and women, immigrant or native-born, regardless of race -- America can once again restore the upward flow of talent that can power growth and prosperity.
Download or read book Screwed written by Thom Hartmann and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2007-04-28 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the bestselling author and XM and Sirius Satellite radio host heard on more than eighty radio stations coast to coast seven days a week Reveals how the middle class, nurtured as the backbone of democracy by our Founding Fathers, is being undermined by so-called conservatives Shows how we can reverse the erosion of the middle class and restore the egalitarian vision of the Founders Expanded edition with a new chapter on immigration and a new afterword by Greg Palast The American middle class is on its deathbed. Ordinary folks who put in a solid day's work can no longer afford to buy a house, send their kids to college, or even get sick. If you're not a CEO, you're probably screwed. America wasn't meant to be like this. Air America Radio host Thom Hartmann shows that our Founding Fathers worked hard to ensure that a small group of wealthy people would never dominate this country--they'd had enough of aristocracy. They put policies in place to ensure a thriving middle class. When the middle class took a hit, beginning in the post-Civil War Gilded Age and culminating in the Great Depression, democracy-loving leaders like Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Dwight Eisenhower revitalized it through initiatives like antitrust regulations, fair labor laws, the minimum wage, Social Security, and Medicare. So what happened? In the last twenty-five years, we've witnessed an undeclared war against the middle class. The so-called conservatives waging this war are only interested in conserving--and steadily increasing--their own wealth and power. Hartmann shows how, under the guise of "freeing" the market, they've systematically dismantled the programs set up by Republicans and Democrats to protect the middle class and have installed policies that favor the superrich and corporations. But it's not too late to return to the America our Founders envisioned. Hartmann outlines a series of commonsense proposals that will ensure that our public institutions are not turned into private fiefdoms and that people's basic needs--education, health care, a living wage--are met in a way that allows the middle class to expand, not shrink. America will be stronger with a growing, prospering middle class--rule by the rich will only make it weaker. Democracy requires a fair playing field, and it will survive only if We the People stand up, speak out, and reclaim our democratic birthright.
Download or read book Standard of Living written by Marina Moskowitz and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book White Collar written by C. Wright Mills and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002-09-26 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In print for fifty years, White Collar by C. Wright Mills is considered a standard on the subject of the new middle class in twentieth-century America. This landmark volume demonstrates how the conditions and styles of middle class life--originating from elements of both the newer lower and upper classes--represent modern society as a whole. By examining white-collar life, Mills aimed to learn something about what was becoming more typically "American" than the once-famous Western frontier character. He painted a picture instead of a society that had evolved into a business-based milieu, viewing America instead as a great salesroom, an enormous file, and a new universe of management. Russell Jacoby, author of The End of Utopia and The Last Intellectuals, contributes a new Afterword to this edition, in which he reflects on the impact White Collar had at its original publication and considers what it means to our society today. "A book that persons of every level of the white collar pyramid should read and ponder. It will alert them to their condition for their better salvation."-Horace M. Kaellen, The New York Times (on the first edition)
Download or read book The American Middle Class 2 volumes written by Robert S. Rycroft and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 1087 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the "American Dream"? This book's author argues that contrary to what many believe, it is not achieving the wealth necessary to enter the top one percent but rather becoming members of the great middle class by dint of hard work and self-discipline. Americans of all classes consider themselves to be "middle class." There are Americans who by any objective standard should be considered poor who would insist they are middle class, just as other Americans who should be considered wealthy also insist they are middle class. Thinking of yourself and being thought of by others as middle class is the "American Dream" for tens of millions of people. But an enduring problem of the American middle class is the worry that the "Dream" is coming apart—that forces are lurking in the shadows waiting to steal their progress and throw them back into "poverty." This thought-provoking reference explores a disparate multitude of issues associated with being middle class in America. It addresses a range of questions and subtopics, including the meaning of the term "middle class"; how middle class status is expressed by both the majority and the various minorities that make up the American mosaic; what economic pressures are bearing down on the middle class; and how economists and others attempt to make sense of the economic issues of the day. Readers will also better understand how political institutions and public policies are shaping the way the middle class views the world; how labor, housing, education, and crime-related issues have influenced the development and growth of the middle class; the norms of the middle class versus those of other classes in society; and the role of culture and media in shaping how members of the middle class view themselves—and how they are viewed by others. This two-volume set provides a comprehensive look at the American middle class that supports student research in economics, social studies, cultural studies, and political history. The content supports teachers in their development of lesson plans and assignments that directly align with the Common Core State Standards and the recommendations of the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (NCSS) with respect to all ten NCSS themes.
Download or read book The American Middle Class written by Lawrence R. Samuel and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The middle class is often viewed as the heart of American society, the key to the country's democracy and prosperity. Most Americans believe they belong to this group, and few politicians can hope to be elected without promising to serve the middle class. Yet today the American middle class is increasingly seen as under threat. In The American Middle Class: A Cultural History, Lawrence R. Samuel charts the rise and fall of this most definitive American population, from its triumphant emergence in the post-World War II years to the struggles of the present day. Between the 1920s and the 1950s, powerful economic, social, and political factors worked together in the U.S. to forge what many historians consider to be the first genuine mass middle class in history. But from the cultural convulsions of the 1960s, to the 'stagflation' of the 1970s, to Reaganomics in the 1980s, this segment of the population has been under severe stress. Drawing on a rich array of voices from the past half-century, The American Middle Class explores how the middle class, and ideas about it, have changed over time, including the distinct story of the black middle class. Placing the current crisis of the middle class in historical perspective, Samuel shows how the roots of middle-class troubles reach back to the cultural upheaval of the 1960s. The American Middle Class takes a long look at how the middle class has been winnowed away and reveals how, even in the face of this erosion, the image of the enduring middle class remains the heart and soul of the United States.
Download or read book America s Shrinking Middle Class written by Ph. D. Vahab Aghai and published by . This book was released on 2014-08-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does a middle class nation do without a middle class? An abundance of evidence suggests that we here in the United States are about to find out. America's Shrinking Middle Class documents trends that have been building not just since the Great Recession, but for over four decades. In 1970, the share of U.S. income that went to the middle class was 62 percent. By 2010 that figure had fallen to 45 percent. In that same year, the median income for middle class Americans had gone from $72,956 to $69,487 a decline of nearly 5 percent in just one year. A shrinking middle class would mean a shrinking economy and an America dominated by a growing lower class. Life would be less comfortable, less prosperous, and less secure. With less money coming in to government and businesses alike, tax burdens would become onerous. One example: Obamacare. It could cost the average taxpayer nearly $6,000 in extra taxes and create a total of 20 new taxes or tax hikes. For a weakened and shrinking middle class, it could be a fatal blow.
