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Thread: "Middle Class" and "Working Family"

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    Default "Middle Class" and "Working Family"

    Is there a definition for the "middle class" and "working family"? Everyone knows what the "middle class" is but how do we define it? How do we know when someone has left the "middle class" and joined the "upper middle class" or left the "middle class" and joined the "lower middle class"?

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    Quote Originally Posted by cawacko View Post
    Is there a definition for the "middle class" and "working family"? Everyone knows what the "middle class" is but how do we define it? How do we know when someone has left the "middle class" and joined the "upper middle class" or left the "middle class" and joined the "lower middle class"?
    It all depends on which spinning pundit you listen to.
    Bush doubled the debt from 5 trillion to 10 trillion.
    Proving tax cuts work!

    Bush asked for and signed for the TARP money.
    The Republican senate leader backed Bush on this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by uscitizen View Post
    It all depends on which spinning pundit you listen to.
    Ok, how about the "spinning pundits" on this board?

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    Quote Originally Posted by cawacko View Post
    Ok, how about the "spinning pundits" on this board?

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    spinning pundits on a political board ?????
    Who whould have thought that!
    Bush doubled the debt from 5 trillion to 10 trillion.
    Proving tax cuts work!

    Bush asked for and signed for the TARP money.
    The Republican senate leader backed Bush on this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darla View Post
    Yes, you two are meant to be together.

    I am well aware google exists. I want to know what people here think, hence yours truly asking the question on this board.

    If the middle class is shrinking why is that? Is it because more people are rising in the ranks or because more people are fallilng in the ranks?

    Even a loose definition of middle class will help with that assesment.

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    Main article: American middle class
    Today in the US there are multiple theories as to what constitutes the middle class. As the vast majority of Americans identify as being middle class, the term has been used to describe people from all walks of life, from janitors to attorneys.[1][2] As a result the middle class is often sub-divided into two or three groups. While one set of theories claim that the middle class is composed of those in the middle of the social strata, other theories maintain that professionals and managers who have a college degree make up most of the middle class.[3] In 2005 roughly 35% of Americans worked in the professional/professional support or managerial field and 27% had a college degree.[4] Sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert or Joseph Hickey argue that the middle class is divided into two sub-groups. The upper middle class consists of white collar professionals with advanced educations and constitutes roughly 15% of the population. In 2005 the top 15% of income earners (age 25+) had incomes exceeding $62,500.[5] The lower middle class (or middle-middle class for those who divide the middle class into three segments) consists of other mostly white collar employees with less autonomy in their work, lower educational attainment, lower personal income and less prestige than those of the upper middle class. Sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert, James Henslin, William Thompson and Joseph Hickey have brought forth class models in which the middle class is divided into two sections which combine to represent 47% to 49% of the population.[6][7][8] Economist Michael Zweig defines class as power relationships among the members of a society, rather than as a lifestyle or by income. [9] Zweig says that the middle class is only about 34% of the U.S. population, typically employed as managers, supervisors, small business owners and other professional people.

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    It is because "Middle Class" was redefined after a President promised never to raise taxes on the "Middle Class", therefore previously "Middle Class" families were suddenly "Upper Class" and were taxed in an upward fashion rather than remaining the same as promised.
    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
    - -- Aristotle

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
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    most here are top 15% 62,000 is not that much at all.

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    The definition of "middle class" is arbitrary, which is why you get so many differing opinions. Personally, I take it as the middle 50% (which to me makes sense). Take the median income (which is the middle) then take 25% of the population on one side and 25% on the other. That is your middle class. Then you have lower income class as the bottom quartile and the top income class which is the top quartile.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cawacko View Post
    Yes, you two are meant to be together.

    I am well aware google exists. I want to know what people here think, hence yours truly asking the question on this board.

    If the middle class is shrinking why is that? Is it because more people are rising in the ranks or because more people are fallilng in the ranks?

    Even a loose definition of middle class will help with that assesment.
    I don't think it's a matter of what people here think though. I'm not sure there is any set dollar amount that puts you in the middle class.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cawacko View Post
    Yes, you two are meant to be together.

    I am well aware google exists. I want to know what people here think, hence yours truly asking the question on this board.

    If the middle class is shrinking why is that? Is it because more people are rising in the ranks or because more people are fallilng in the ranks?

    Even a loose definition of middle class will help with that assesment.
    It mainly depends on whether you use avg income or avg wages....
    Bush doubled the debt from 5 trillion to 10 trillion.
    Proving tax cuts work!

    Bush asked for and signed for the TARP money.
    The Republican senate leader backed Bush on this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by uscitizen View Post
    It mainly depends on whether you use avg income or avg wages....
    Actually you would want to use MEDIAN income or MEDIAN wages... you would NOT want to use the average of either. The MEAN skews the results.

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    To me those two class distinctions are probably differentiated by education and background, with income overlapping.

    For instance, a roofer may make over $100k per year, but is 'working class.' The middle manager at the geeks on call office may make a $100k, but is 'middle class.'

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    So it is the profession rather than the wage Runyon ?
    Bush doubled the debt from 5 trillion to 10 trillion.
    Proving tax cuts work!

    Bush asked for and signed for the TARP money.
    The Republican senate leader backed Bush on this.

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