The share of households earning a middle-class income of between $35,000 and $100,000 in real 2007 dollars has indeed shrunk slightly compared to a decade ago, but so too has the share earning less than $35,000 a year, while the share earning more than $100,000 continues to rise. The middle class is not shrinking; it is moving up.
New Income and Poverty Figures Spoil the Pity Party (Cato-at-liberty).
Dan Griswold cites the latest Census release about household income. I don’t argue with what he has to say, but I wonder what is the deal with defining “middle income” as between 35,000 and 100,000? Shouldn’t it be defined more in line with the name, “middle” ? Perhaps say the middle 3 household income quintiles? (I.e. the 60% of people in the middle?)
Of course such a definition would prevent us from saying “the middle class is shrinking!” And of course that is the point of such statistics.
Recent Comments