Middle class America gets beat down

April 10, 2008

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Who do you blame for your economic problems?

The government?

The price of oil?

Foreign competition?

Society at large?

That’s where members of the middle class pointed fingers, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.

It found that many middle-class Americans say they aren’t better off than they were five years ago - but there’s no clear consensus on who (or what) is to blame.

Among people with household incomes between $40K and $100K, 26% said they hadn’t made progress in the last five years, and 28% said they’d fallen behind.

“It’s been a lousy run for the American economy and people feel it,” said Paul Taylor, director of Pew’s Social & Demographic Trends project and lead author of the study.

… Middle-class people also may be disproportionately feeling the pinch because they tend to borrow more heavily against their homes to support their lifestyles, Taylor said.

One of the most unifying findings isn’t surprising: nearly eight in 10 people said it’s more difficult to maintain their standard of living compared with five years ago.

Are you feeling this “pinch,” between the high cost of food and higher fuel prices? Or are middle class Americans just a bunch of complainers?

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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Posted by The Daily Record | Filed Under business, economy, money, surveys | 1 Comment 

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