4 ms·

The percentage of Americans who say they are in the middle or upper-middle class has fallen 10 percentage points, from a 61% average between 2000 and 2008 to 51

The percentage of Americans who say they are in the middle or upper-middle class has fallen 10 percentage points, from a 61% average between 2000 and 2008 to 51% today. That number is still too high. It should be about 33% (but then about 80% of Americans consider themselves "above average" drivers, too). That devastated American remains counted as "full-time employed" because he still has full-time work -- although with drastically reduced pay and benefits. Nonsense. 2015 saw the largest income increases ever recorded at each of the bottom four quintiles.

itbeho 10y ago
"The data for 2013 and beyond reflect the implementation of the redesigned income questions." https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/press-kits/2016/20160913_iphi_slides.pdf https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/press-kit...
astazangasta 10y ago
>Nonsense. 2015 saw the largest income increases ever recorded at each of the bottom four quintiles. I see you bought that propaganda item that was floating around last week. Anytime someone is talking about the "largest increase" of anything, they are usually trying to lie to you. In this case, while income may have "increased dramatically" between 2014 and 2015, real median income is still lower than 2008: http://images.dailykos.com/images/134215/large/household-income-monthly-median-since-2000.gif?1426491420 http://images.dailykos.com/images/134215/large/household-inc...
mdorazio 10y ago
As itbeho pointed out, the census moved the goal posts, rendering that whole claim questionable at best [1]. Additionally, income increases don't refute what the author said at all. If I lost a 75k a year job and replaced it with a 30k a year job, an increase of anything less than 150% leaves me worse off than I was before. You can see this if you look at real median wage information - we are still well below 2007 levels, even with the census tricks. [1] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-15/deconstructing-median-income-farce http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-15/deconstructing-medi...

itbeho 10y ago

"The data for 2013 and beyond reflect the implementation of the redesigned income questions." https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/press-kits/2016/20160913_iphi_slides.pdf https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/press-kit...

astazangasta 10y ago

>Nonsense. 2015 saw the largest income increases ever recorded at each of the bottom four quintiles. I see you bought that propaganda item that was floating around last week. Anytime someone is talking about the "largest increase" of anything, they are usually trying to lie to you. In this case, while income may have "increased dramatically" between 2014 and 2015, real median income is still lower than 2008: http://images.dailykos.com/images/134215/large/household-income-monthly-median-since-2000.gif?1426491420 http://images.dailykos.com/images/134215/large/household-inc...

mdorazio 10y ago

As itbeho pointed out, the census moved the goal posts, rendering that whole claim questionable at best [1]. Additionally, income increases don't refute what the author said at all. If I lost a 75k a year job and replaced it with a 30k a year job, an increase of anything less than 150% leaves me worse off than I was before. You can see this if you look at real median wage information - we are still well below 2007 levels, even with the census tricks. [1] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-15/deconstructing-median-income-farce http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-15/deconstructing-medi...