Poll shows most blame Congress, banks, Big Business, Bush

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Median net worth for the middle class fell 28 percent over the last decade, from $129,000 in 2001 to $93,000, wiping out two decades of gains.


Among upper-income families, net worth edged higher from $569,000 to $574,000.


Lower-income families saw net worth fall 45 percent


Of the self-described middle-class Americans who say it is more difficult now than it was a decade ago to maintain a standard of living, 62 percent say "a lot" of the blame lies with Congress.


About 54 percent say the same about banks and financial institutions, while 47 percent say large corporations, 44 percent point to the Bush administration, 39 percent cite foreign competition and 34 percent find fault with the Obama administration.


About 52 percent of self-described middle-class adults say President Barack Obama's policies in a second term would help the middle class, while 39 percent say they would not help.


In contrast, about 42 percent say that electing Republican challenger Mitt Romney would help the middle class, while 40 percent said it would not help.


People who identify as middle class are more likely to lean Democratic (50 percent) than Republican (39 percent).


The Pew survey involved telephone interviews with 2,508 adults, including 1,287 people who identified themselves as middle class, conducted from July 16 to 26.


The margin of error was 2.8 percentage points for the total sample, 3.9 percentage points for those in the middle class.



http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/...-middle-class/

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