What is your Socio-Economic Position?

[JanMichael]

Alright to answer the students first give us your PARENTS general class not just you with spending money.

Let's start with an oldie but goodie quote!

"An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics."

~Plutarch

Please vote and modify my very limited classifications!

EDIT! Would this more accurate with the following Classifications?

Working Poor

Blue Collar Middle Class

White Collar Middle Class

White Collar Rich

Rich

????

[MercutioATC]

1. You'll have to define the income ranges...

What's "middle income" these days?

[JanMichael]

4. Median Family Income is around $45,000

The reason that I did not use incomes on this was because it's incredibly difficult to attach these numbers to Class definitions.

Well you can but that leads to people bitching about regional differences...

[MercutioATC]

42. I hear ya...I just wanted a general range...

People have some seriously different definitions...

Thanks

[DanCa]

2. Disability five sixteen a month living at my parents home.

I dont think theres a classification for me. I am not poor i am po can't afford the other o and the other r.

[AZBlue]

3. I've slid 3 whole categories since the Clinton years.

But he was a BAD president - he got BJ's! Bad president! :banghead:

[Jed Dilligan]

5. What about

highly educated and very broke?

[JanMichael]

6. Choices #2 or #5?

Or Other!

There are only so many spaces for choices on these polls...

[Cats Against Frist]

31. Yeah, that's me.

It's a tough call. My boyfriend has a BA in music, but is a blue-collar Middle Income worker -- about $18 an hour. I have several degrees, including one advanced degree, and make about $15,000 a year. After fellowship, who knows -- I may end up as lower income working class, or I might do something else. We own a house, though. Right now, I voted, for the whole shebang, Middle Income Blue Collar. I think that's like if you averaged the two of us, or something.

[Jed Dilligan]

38. Hey CAF!

Sorry so slow in answering your PM. It takes me a long time to process poetry.

My girlfriend has a BA in math and works behind a counter for $15--looking into teaching and grad school. I'm doing better now that I have my PhD. ($30K/year in a postdoc) but student loans + being in one of the world's most expensive city actually = a drop in lifestyle after grad school in a little college town! I voted other because the whole situation is temporary; I will be much richer or much poorer shortly.

[ultraist]

7. What stratifications are you using?

US Census Bureau?

Tax data?

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/250.html

Top l%: Above $295,000
Top 5%: Above $l30,000
Top l0%: Above $94,000
Top 25%: Above $57,000

Are you referring to only income but also networth/wealth?

In the NYT did a series, "Class Matters" there is a graph where you can plug in your educational level, income, wealth and occupation for a SES rating by percentile: http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/index_01.html

[Seabiscuit]

39. I tried it out...

I won't say any more than my average percentile was 95th.

Should I feel bad?

[Solly Mack]

8. You know that "church mouse"? Well, I call him "The Donald"

I'm that poor.

[bleedingheart]

9. what do you view as high paid?

[ultraist]

11. According to the USCB

Upper class income starts at around 90k.

Middle Class is 40k-89k


If I remember correctly.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Really? I've Never Seen It That Low

The definition most economists use is based upon the marginal tax rates. You are Upper Class if you're paying at the highest rate, which would be around $330k for a married couple, $165k for a single person. It's what i've always used.

$90k per household seems kind of low to be upper class, economically. Maybe two income households that AVERAGE 90k might be, ($180k for the household) i suppose.

But, $90k per household seems too low.
The Professor

[ultraist]

15. With the median income at around 45k,

and the bottom end of the top quintile, according to the USCB,around 90k, this puts the bottom rung of the upper class starting at 90k.

If Middle class topped out at $330,000, that would make the middle class income range from 30k to 300k.

$329,000 is well above Middle Class income, IMO. I'd consider the top 20%, upper class, which starts at around 90k.

I suppose it's a matter of definition. I don't consider the bottom rung of Upper class to be the same as the top tax bracket.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. That's Why There Are Other Strata

You know, like Upper Middle Class, et al. Also, remember the median household income is not adjusted to region. So, there are areas of the country where $45k doesn't go as far as in other regions. I think we'd need to do an indexed median income, and then place everyone that is +/-1 sigma from the MEDIAN, using an estimator of standard deviation that corrects the bias for the median, not the mean. That would be the middle 2/3rd, roughly, of the earning population. I have a suspicion that would put the number a lot higher than you think.

In fact, we could use 2/3rd's of one sigma on each side of the mean, and with a distribution this large, that would almost exactly be 50% of the sample set. It would, i think be quite fair to say the middle 50% around the median is the middle class. I might have to do that today if i can make the time. If i do, i'll repost that here.
The Professor

[ultraist]

18. I'd love to see it, if you get a chance to put it together.

Thanks.

I'm certainly not able to put something like that together. ;)

[JanMichael]

19. Try 80% of Median to 200% of Median.

Or $36,000 to $90,000.

I've also seen arguments for the "Middle Class" being from 50% of Median to 250% of Median but that's getting squirrely imo.

The 50% of Median for an Individuial is a bitch to live on, at least in SW Florida, as I've done it within the last 5 years. $25,000 with all of the withholding is like $700 take-home every two weeks.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Absolutely No Doubt About That

Half the median would probably tough anywhere. Probably especially hard where you are!

Being the analytical type, i will take a stab at using the statistical measure in my post to ultraist. Really busy today, but i wrote it on my white board as an academic excercise to pursue.

See, i'm the opposite situation. I make a multiple of the median, and i don't feel upper class or rich. We're comfortable. I don't worry about our being able to pay the bills. But, we don't drive $75k cars, don't live in a McMansion, do live in a small town with modest property values, so it's a comfortable, but controlled lifestyle. The truly upper class have no need to consider any modesty in their lifestyle. We're comfortable financially, because we have put reasonable limits on our expectations. So, i'm personally uncomfortable with the idea that anything over $90k is upper class. Just having a snit, i guess.
The Professor

[Thtwudbeme]

22. Now I'm in North Carolina and making somewhat more than the Median

both for the area and the MSA.

Plus I'm married now so there's two one one full-time income and some part-time but we're comfortable but certainly ot even remotely "wealthy" or on the high end of anything.

I'll definately look forward to your analysis. Actually I've done some work on the 2003 Income charts if you'd like to see those PM me.

EDIT: This is Jan Michael not Stephanie!

[ProfessorGAC]

25. What? Are You In Disguise?

Oh trying to slip one by on me, eh? I'll print your post so i remember to whom i should send what i find out.
The Professor

[JanMichael]

29. Ssssh. Don't tell anyone.

She's my lovely wife.

[Terran]

10. I chose "Middle Class Professional" but

the word "secure" doesn't fit me. I do own a home with my partner, but it's still a paycheck-to-paycheck situation, and my skills and education don't guarantee me a high-paying job. I'm extremely lucky to be earning what I do right now.

I have to add, however, that we basically exchanged having several hundred per month disposable income for being home-owners; we had just reached that point of having extra money and decided it was time to buy instead of rent. At this point, if my old car dies, our finances could be a wreck.

[anarch]

13. should be: working class professional. In reality: Poor.

But that is mostly because we went from a two-income to a one-income family pretty suddenly, and it's been about a year and a half now. Well, that and it seems like things that we used to be able to afford we no longer can. Like rent and utilities for instance.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. I guess low income working class.. $25,000 for a family of 4 & on medicaid

[yurbud]

16. professional (MA) education, working class income

I teach college and they do the Walmart scam there--they rely heavily on part time employees so they don't have to give us as many benefits (health insurance is uncommon) and pay us roughly 40% as much per hour as our full time colleagues.

[Skidmore]

21. Middle professional--job not secure.

Good chance will lose job after new year.

[Jim__]

23. I don't think there is such a thing as a secure job. Not anymore -nt

[mmonk]

24. Owner

and still leftwing moonbat.

[Fla Dem]

26. Ahh, you forgot about us retired folks. Living on pensions, SS,

and/or medicare. I guess we could be in the other category, but I think we are a big group.

[Individualist]

41. Yes, we are

a big group. There are quite a few of us at DU.

[michreject]

27. I'm middle class

I guess.:shrug:

Annual income of 70,000.00. Work at GM. Wife's income is 60,000.00. Works for county government. Home is almost paid off and am retiring to Tennessee in 09. I'm retiring at the end of 06. Gotta wait for my wife.

[SW FL Dem]

28. Upper Professional

but we come from blue collar middle class backgrounds

[Dervill Crow]

30. Middle class but barely making it. n/t

[Lady Effingbroke]

32. I voted "poor" -- I work at a grocery store making $6 an hour.

However, I have arranged my life (what little there is of it) in such a manner that I can, just barely, get by...for now.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

33. Middle Professional Class as is my Wife, Yet still wondering how to afford

a house in Jersey and two kids in full time daycare...

[bigwillq]

34. Working Class Pro

Benefits are not bad, salary is more blue collar.

[JanMichael]

36. That's where we are too.

I have a local goverment job that pays pretty decent and the benefits are good but are under pressure from the anti-gummint politics of both parties.

The salary is perhaps upper blue collar, there are plumbers that make the same if not more, but I'm considered a skilled professional. Not that this bothers me as I wish more income equality amongst all work regardless of the color of the collar.

All work is valuable, at least most of it.

[bigwillq]

37. Most of the people I know

are blue collar, working class pro---and I live in CT.
The only rich parts of CT are in Fairfield Country, some of the Shoreline towns like Guilford, Madison and some of the Hartford Subs.

The rest is working class. That's how it is were I am from.

[BamaGirl]

35. I voted low income working poor but

my husband is in a blue collar union job. It just doesn't pay shit. Oddly enough, my brother is in the same income bracket as us and blue collar, but we grew up upper middle class/white collar rich. Thank God for my mother, is a phrase we've both repeated quite often in the last 3 or 4 years. (I feel so awful for other young families who don't have our support system.) Frustrating as hell to be in your mid-thirties and be much worse off than you were in your mid-twenties. But hey, the economy is great, right? :sarcasm:

[Cleita]

40. Other, retired with an income that has met my needs

so far. However, this is the second winter I have turned off the heat. I live in California so it isn't as bad as northern climates but now I am noticing that I am cutting down on the expense of what I eat because my health insurance has gone up both Medicare and Medigap.

[readmoreoften]

43. Low Income Working Class with 3 Graduate Degrees & lots of skills

whatcha gonna do.

[Nikia]

44. Working class professional

I am not seeing a way out of it anytime soon. There are many things about the world of work that I didn't learn about in college. What do I have to do to get a good job?