According to a recent article that I came across on Yahoo ("The Middle Class in America is Radically Shrinking. Here Are the Stats to Prove It" by Michael Snyder), the middle class in America is rapidly disappearing. While this has been debated and discussed for quite a while, the statistics the author cites are rather startling. He makes a very clear cut case to support his arguments.
Coincidentally, while reading this article I came across my Social Security statement which had recently arrived. Taking a quick glance at the "earnings record" section, and its precipitous decline, hit me like a tone of bricks: Holy Smoke - I'm in the middle class. . .and I'm disappearing!!
Once upon a time I never worried about being middle class. I was on a fast track, climbing the corporate ladder on my way to what I perceived would be "easy street." And my earnings proved it - $113,000, $132,000, $157,000, $179,000 - the sky was truly the limit.
Circumstances, however, intervened and my elevator to the top got stuck and then, like Disney's "Tower of Terror", began its startling descent, dropping as low as $44,300 while my family got older and, consequently, more expensive to keep.
Now, with two incomes, my "household" income doesn't even equal what I myself made in 1995 - and that's not even taking into account inflation, which would be simply too depressing to calculate. My personal income now barely tops $50,000. I work two jobs to keep the lights on. And I go around turning them off a lot these days.
And I find myself agreeing with Michael Snyder - the middle class is disappearing and taking me with it.
Something has to give. There has to be a way to turn this around before it's too late. Before the backbone of this country is reduced to an entry in someone's version of a history textbook.
Ideas, anyone??
