Myths About the Middle Class - Jonathon Burguess
There are many myths surrounding the middle class that mostly people that are in the middle class themselves create. Thoughts like the middle class is becoming stagnant and seeing no economic or quality of life growth have serviced recently. Other items such as happiness from the amount of money you make and how getting a raise may or may not increase happiness in your life also help fester up these myths. Let's take a closer look into some of these myths and see what we can uncover.
Myth #1:
Let me set up a scenario for you. You grow up in a middle-class home and are very good in school just like your father if you are a male and your mother if you are female. You go to the exact same high school, university, internship and obtain the exact same major as them. You go into the exact same field that they had went to twenty-five years ago. You would end up making less money than your parents. That’s what one of the major myths would lead you to believe. This myth stems from the thought that the middle class will be worse off than their parents. If you investigate some stats you can easily debunk this one. In Five Myths About the Middle-Class Lane Kenworthy states “as of 2000-08, 86 percent of Americans who grew up in a middle-class household had a higher income (adjusted for inflation) than their parents.” This shows that while many people believe the middle class is declining while it’s at an incline.
Myth #2:
How many raises do you think you could receive before they wouldn’t really affect your happiness? People believe that after you hit the $75,000 that the happiness just flat lines because you know the old saying “money can’t buy happiness”. However recent research has shown that more money after $75,000 can still cause boosts in happiness. This one kind of seems obvious. Who doesn’t want more money, a bigger house, a nicer car, or the ability to go on a cruise with your family because well you just wanted to? While its very true that money is not the biggest percentage of happiness on the pie chart it still can affect someone's happiness no matter if they make one thousand dollars a year or one hundred thousand dollars a year.
Myth #3:
The quality of life for the middle class is declining!! I hate to break it to you but that is a myth as well. “Income changes alone don’t capture the enhanced quality of life that stems from greater access to information and entertainment through personal computers, smartphones, the Internet and cable TV; advances in medical care such as MRIs and new surgical techniques; and more choices for all kinds of goods and services.” (1) The world around the middle class is becoming extremely advanced and complementary to their so called “American dream”. Soon technological advancements will bring the middle class not only new and improved products and services but also lower prices for the ones that were around. Jobs will be more plentiful, and the income will no longer be “stagnant”. The middle class will be just fine for years to come.
We have talked about myths this whole time. Let’s hit a fact to change it up a little. Middle class Americans are no longer the majority of the population. In 5 Takeaways about the American Middle-Class Richard Fry states “In early 2015, there were 120.8 million adults in middle-income households, matched in number by the 121.3 million adults who were in lower- and upper-income households combined.” It is no longer extremely common to be in the middle class.
The middle class is very misunderstood. Many people think that it’s going downhill and the middle class we know today will not be the same in ten years. These people are partially correct. The middle-class is changing but not for the worse but for the better. The median income is rising, happiness of the middle-class families is rising, and more middle-class jobs are becoming available in the market. So, although the middle-class itself is shrinking it is a great time to be in it.
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Works Cited
Fry, Richard. Kochharr, Rakesh “5 takeaways about the American middle class”. Pew Resarch Center, December 10, 2015. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/10/5-takeaways-about-the-american-middle-class/
Kenworthy, Lane “Five myths about the middle class” The Washington Post, August 3, 2012. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-the-middle-class/2012/08/03/gJQAxPi6UX_story.html?noredirect=on