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Fewer millennials are making it into the middle class
In the United States, just over 50% of the population is middle class, much smaller than most other developed countries.
The report considers households earning between 75% and 200% of the median national income as middle class.
Higher costs, less income
Rising income inequality is part of the reason for the trend. Over the past 30 years, median incomes in OECD countries increased a third less than the average income of the richest 10%, the report found.
At the same time, costs are going up faster than inflation in the world's richest economies — making it harder for the middle class to keep up. Home prices, in particular, have been growing more than a third faster than median household income in recent decades. The middle class spent 32% of their budgets on housing in 2015, compared to 25% in 1985.
The report considers households earning between 75% and 200% of the median national income as middle class.
Higher costs, less income
Rising income inequality is part of the reason for the trend. Over the past 30 years, median incomes in OECD countries increased a third less than the average income of the richest 10%, the report found.
At the same time, costs are going up faster than inflation in the world's richest economies — making it harder for the middle class to keep up. Home prices, in particular, have been growing more than a third faster than median household income in recent decades. The middle class spent 32% of their budgets on housing in 2015, compared to 25% in 1985.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/11/business/middle-class-oecd-report/index.html
If this trend continues, the middle class will disappear. There will be the monarchy (executive branch), the aristocracy (the wealthiest, including the oligarchy), and the peasants. Just like in medieval England. The monarchy & aristocracy will say the peasants are to blame for being peasants; they made poor choices.
The system is increasingly rigged against The American Dream. If you're born poor in the U.S., it's increasingly difficult to rise above humble beginnings. This is happening in other countries, too, to a lesser degree.
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