Is there really a middle class in America?

America is a middle-class civil society. The middle class accounts for about 80% of the total population. It is the backbone of American society and has always been the beneficiary of American economic development. However, the financial market crisis that began in the summer of 2007 plunged the American economy into recession. For the American middle class, the recession actually began many years ago. Since 2007, the income of Americans has been declining, especially the middle class and low-income people. The income of the American middle class has never kept up with the increase in the cost of living. The costs of gasoline, food, medical care, child care and education are all rising, and people can save less and less money for themselves after retirement. With the depression of the real estate market, many people who originally intended to live on the appreciation of real estate failed.

60% of America's wealth is in the hands of 2% of the rich.

Recently, more than one article in American newspapers said that the American middle class is disappearing and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Krugman, a professor of economics at Princeton University, wrote the article "The End of the American Middle Class" based on statistical data, which caused quite a stir. This book reveals the embarrassing living conditions of some middle classes. Krugman said that twenty or thirty years ago, the middle class in the United States occupied the social center of gravity, but in recent years, the benefits of economic growth have flowed to the rich class, and it is the rich class among the rich. The article points out that the reason for all this is that the current American government pleases the rich at the expense of the poor, and the poverty situation in the United States is more serious than that in other industrial countries. And ordinary Americans also lack confidence in their economic prospects.

Unemployment is rising, oil prices are rising, and the American middle class is no longer as relaxed as before. According to a professor at Harvard University, after adjusting for inflation, the income of Americans has been declining since 2007, especially the middle class. For many American families, the recession began several years ago. Compared with 2000, the average annual expenditure of American families on food, medical care, energy and housing has been nearly $5,000 higher. A recent report of the American Human Development Project shows that the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States is increasing. In 2006, the average annual household income of the richest quintile in the United States was $65,438+06,865,438+070, almost 65,438+05 times that of the lowest quintile. The richest 20% earn more than half of America's total income.