Middle class
Middle-class shares by income and wealth
^ *1: (Middle class and above) – (Middle class) ^ *2: 100 – (Middle class and above) During the height of the American Middle Class, in the 1950's and 60's low income workers reaped the benefits of a growing economy. The jobs created were ideal blue collar positions that paid well and strengthened the backbone of the American economy. Jordan Weismann at The Atlantic writes, “The poorest fifth of all households, in fact, fared best. Then, in the 1970s, amid two oil crises and awful inflation, things ground to a halt. The country backed off the postwar, center-left consensus -- captured by Richard Nixon's comment that "we're all Keynesians now" -- and tried Reaganism instead. We cut taxes. Technology and competition from abroad started whittling away at blue collar jobs and pay. The financial markets took off.” Based on a 2012 study by Pew Research Center that looked at the average annual change in mean family income between 1950 and 2010, the middle class peaked in the 1970’s. By the start of the 1980’s the poorest fifth of all households was no longer receiving the lion’s share of the spoils and in fact saw their mean family income decline between 1980-1990. In that same time frame the upper most quintile saw their mean income increase by just over 2% and the top 5% of earners by over 3%. Those numbers grew to 3% and 4% respectively in the 1990’s, while middle and lower class income growth lagged behind with a mild 1% growth.
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