Number Who Self-Identify As Middle Class Has Dropped

We have been hearing from economists for a while now that the number of people in the middle class has dropped (and is still dropping). These economists use income and wealth data to draw those conclusions.

But I found this new Gallup Poll, done between April 9th and 12th, to be very interesting. It shows that individual Americans are realizing the reality of the economic mess this country is in -- and many now realize that they are no longer able to identify themselves as middle class. The percentage identifying themselves as middle class has dropped from 63% in 2000 (before the economy tanked) to only 51% in 2015. That's a 12 point drop in the last 15 years.

Why is this happening? Haven't we been told the recession is over and the economy is recovering? After all, the rich, the Wall Street banks, and the corporations are making more money than ever before. But while that is true, the "recovery" has not reached many other Americans. Too many still find themselves unemployed, and those with a job find their wages are stagnant (and actually losing buying power when inflation is considered).

And while a fair amount of new jobs are being created in most months, far too many of those jobs are low-wage and low-benefit jobs -- jobs that will not put or keep a worker in the middle class. Those jobs are more likely to put a worker on government assistance rolls. Meanwhile, good jobs are still being offshored to other countries (where corporations can pay even lower wages to desperate people).

Our economic system is not as fair as it used to be. Starting in 1980 (and accelerated during the George W. Bush administration), the Republicans started tilting the economic system toward favoring the rich -- and they have blocked all attempts by Democrats to change that. The result is a shrinking middle class, a growing number off poor workers, and a wealth/income gap that is bigger than at any time since the Great Depression (and still growing).

There is only one way this can be changed. The Republicans must be voted out of power in the 2016 election.

(NOTE -- The chart below shows the drop in middle class self-identification between 2008 and 2015.)