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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: middle class

middle class stories: 24 news summaries

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Young Grow Poorer While Old Get Richer

Recession socks Americans born after 1955

Sep 18, 09 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Young and middle-aged people, particularly men, saw their incomes plummet from 2000 to 2008, leaving many age groups at 30-year nadirs, new Census data show. The recession has exacerbated the problem, widening the gap between young and old at an unprecedented rate, USA Today reports. Worst hit were those... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • middle class • retirement • income disparity • young men • income gap • young people

Time May Be Right to Talk Raising Taxes

In poll, less than half
of Americans say
they pay too much

Aug 7, 09 9:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - If the administration must raise taxes, now could be its big chance, NPR reports. Only 46% of Americans in a recent Gallup poll said their taxes were too high—the smallest fraction since 1961. “Americans, relatively speaking, are more satisfied with the amount of taxes they pay than they... More »

MORE ABOUT:
taxes • White House • middle class • tax hikes • tax policy • Obama administration • Treasury secretary • Robert Gibbs • President Obama • Timothy Geithner

From Food to Health Care,
the Poor Pay More

The economics of poverty mean the poorest pay higher prices for everyday essentials

May 18, 09 7:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - The economics of poverty are complicated, the Washington Post reports, but it boils down to this: “The poorer you are, the more things cost.” The poor spend more in time, money, hassle, and exhaustion than do the middle class or wealthy on everything from a loaf of bread... More »

MORE ABOUT:
middle class • Cost of Living • poverty • financial crisis • wealthy • poverty line

 American Psyche Shows 
 Recession Stress Fractures 

70% fear family income loss

Apr 9, 09 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Depression is up as the US economy proceeds downward, but many of those complaining are not actually facing financial problems—they simply fear they could. “Even if you do everything right, something bad can happen to you,” says a woman whose doctor prescribed therapy. Polls find the economy... More »

MORE ABOUT:
mental health • middle class • Americans • therapy • anxiety • economy • recession depression

 'Hidden Homeless' 
 Turn to Motels 

Recession forces middle-income families into uncomfortable new quarters

Mar 11, 09 9:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - As the economy leaves people without the income they need to afford a mortgage or monthly rent, more and more families find themselves checking into motels for indefinite stays. While they may be a step above homeless shelters, motels bring with them a unique set of problems as long-term stopgaps,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
middle class • foreclosure • homeless • Orange County, California • unemployment • financial crisis • recession depression • economic crisis • motel

GLOSSIES

 American Dream 
 Dies in Our Wallet 

Lust for fame and fortune have hijacked the nation's true promise

Mar 8, 09 7:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - To the dreary lexical suite that defines our times—greed, foreclosure, stimulus and debt—we must add humility, David Kamp writes in Vanity Fair. Our gluttonous pursuits and ridicule of middle-class life has landed us in the grip of a recession and twisted the shape of the American Dream, he... More »

MORE ABOUT:
work • middle class • recession • American dream • founding fathers

 Biden to Head Middle-Class Task Force

Obama calls it an 'American moment'

Jan 30, 09 1:38 PM CST
(Newser) - President Obama today announced a new task force on the middle class, to be led by none other than onetime "working class kid from Scranton" Joe Biden, the Chicago Tribune reports. “This is a difficult moment,” Obama said, referring in part to the day’s dire... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Joe Biden • middle class • labor unions • Obama administration • economic policies

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Biden's New Role: Help the Middle Class

Cheney blasts VP-elect; Emanuel cleared in Blago scandal

Dec 21, 08 10:50 AM CST
(Newser) - Joe Biden emerged from the shadows today and said he will lead a task force to strengthen the middle class, the AP reports. “We'll look at everything from college affordability to after-school programs,” he said on ABC's This Week. From the get-go, Biden told Barack Obama that he... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Joe Biden • Dick Cheney • Senate • New York • middle class • Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg

OPINION

Brooks: Bottom Is Falling Out From Under Middle Class

Recession is worst for those who had barely made it

Nov 18, 08 11:36 AM CST
(Newser) - All boom times are alike; each recession is unhappy, however, in its own way, writes David Brooks in the New York Times. This recession will hit hardest “people who achieved middle-class status at the tail end of the long boom, and then lost it.” Even if there’s... More »

MORE ABOUT:
middle class • recession

Who Are You Calling a Socialist?

McCain: Obama's tax cut plan is 'welfare'; Dem: Mac 'out of touch'

Oct 19, 08 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Values and socialism dominated the sharp rhetoric on the campaign trail yesterday, as the presidential candidates exchanged fire over Barack Obama’s plan for middle-class tax cuts, Politico reports. At rallies in North Carolina and Virginia, two traditionally red states where Obama has made inroads, John McCain accused him of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • taxes • middle class • socialism • welfare • values • Election 2008

GLOSSIES

Working-Class Anger
May Boil Over Soon


Oct 15, 08 7:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - For a while now, the divide between rich and poor has gotten bigger, but it "hasn't sparked an outright political revolt," writes Reihan Salam in the Atlantic. That could change soon. Our fragile, 20-year "consumption compromise"—the era of cheap goods and cheap credit keeping economic... More »

MORE ABOUT:
business • middle class • wages • gas prices • undecided voters • Election 2008 • financial crisis

ANALYSIS

Not So Fast With Those Numbers, David Brooks

Obama's tax rate for
the rich no steeper
than in the '90s

Jul 2, 08 7:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - Despite David Brooks' attempts to “muddy” the mathematical waters, Barack Obama’s tax plan doesn’t hit the wealthy very hard—and it’s the one that helps the middle class, Jared Bernstein writes in Talking Points Memo Café. Brooks wrote in the Times that moneyed Americans would pay... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • taxes • wealth • Bill Clinton • middle class • David Brooks

OPINION

How the Middle Class Was Systematically Betrayed

Our 'land of equality' is now a 'bankers' utopia'

May 14, 08 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Thomas Frank tackles the decline of the American middle class in an outraged op ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal. He confesses fascination with "the mechanics of this huge social reconfiguration," which has, over several decades, shunted the nation's wealth into fewer and fewer hands, until the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
middle class • slave labor • trade • tax cuts • income disparity • deregulation

Rising Cost of Essentials
Slams Poor Families

Prices of "core" items are rising twice as fast as wages

Mar 21, 08 1:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - The rising price of essentials and sluggish growth in wages mean that inflation is hitting low- to middle-income families hardest, the Washington Post reports. Americans are paying 9.2% more for staples—groceries, gas, health care, etc.— than they did in 2006, nearly twice the pace of the growth... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • health care costs • middle class • wages • gas prices • consumer prices • food prices • low-income families

Ivy Aid May Hit 2nd-Tier Schools

Big scholarships could siphon top students who couldn't afford Harvard

Mar 5, 08 12:35 PM CST
(Newser) - It’s easy to applaud the generosity the Ivy League is lavishing on the middle class, but it could have unintended consequences, Newsweek notes. Second-tier schools and elite public universities rely on the highly talented middle-class kids Harvard and company are targeting. “Schools compete hard for those students,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Ivy League • higher education • middle class • Harvard • financial aid • endowment • Colgate University

How to Be Middle-Class Rich

You don't have to have über-big bucks to spend like you do

Feb 21, 08 10:26 AM CST
(Newser) - Middle-class millionaires are carving out a luxe lifestyle to define their 16.5-million strong group, Forbes reports. And while the $1 million to $10 million stashed in the bank doesn’t make them all that rich, that doesn't put much of a dent in lavish spending habits:
  1. Mega-home improvements,
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
wealth • wine • middle class • list • luxury car • luxury goods • millionaires • Lamborghini • luxury travel • Rene Lautrec • vacation home

Silicon Valley Deletes Middle-Income Jobs

Jobs rise in region overall, partly due to international influx

Feb 19, 08 4:23 PM CST
(Newser) - Silicon Valley is bleeding middle-income jobs, the New York Times reports. Clerks, secretaries, service reps and others earning $30,000 to $80,000 a year fell from 52% to 46% of workers from 2002 to 2006, according to a new report. The trend threatens the region's upward-mobility track, one author... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Silicon Valley • middle class • employment • US economy • tech industry • job

For Blacks, Income Ladder More Like Chute

Middle-class children much less likely to pass parents than whites

Nov 13, 07 7:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Middle-class African Americans are much less likely to surpass their parents’ income than their white counterparts, a new study finds. Overall, two-thirds of American adults earned more than their parents, adjusted for inflation. But among the black middle class, 69% are making less. “Black children and white children do... More »

MORE ABOUT:
race • parenting • middle class • racial inequality

Class Reigns Supreme in Britain

Oct 20, 07 2:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Britain’s Labour Party says a classless society can be a reality in England, but after 10 years in power, their country still feels deeply divided by class. According to a Guardian survey, 89% of Britons felt they were judged by their class, with almost half saying it counted for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
middle class • Labour Party • working class • Britain

Middle-Class Squeeze Is
No Illusion

Don't blame frivolous spending, experts say; expenses really are up

Oct 16, 07 6:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - The proliferation of Starbucks and designer jeans is a red herring—today's middle class has less spending money than ever, says a Harvard law professor. People can buy more stuff because prices are down, but that provides a skewed picture. "These are things you don't see at the mall:... More »

MORE ABOUT:
middle class • consumer spending

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