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If the modern day poor are living an equivalent life style to the middle class from 50 years ago is that really a problem? That’s what part of this article see

If the modern day poor are living an equivalent life style to the middle class from 50 years ago is that really a problem? That’s what part of this article seems to describe. Also would be interesting how much of this is attributable to the rise in prevalence of two income households. 2x a middle income would be considered wealthy by the measure used in this study

ALittleLight 8y ago
>If the modern day poor are living an equivalent life style to the middle class from 50 years ago is that really a problem? If the middle class have largely collapsed into the poor, and the poor now live as the middle class did - that implies that for the formerly middle class there has been no growth in fifty years.
chipotle_coyote 8y ago
I don't understand where you're asserting the article says that. The fact that neighborhoods whose per capita income was around the middle in 1970 are in the lower quintiles now does not mean that the 1970 middle class and the 2017 lower class have "equivalent lifestyles." It means the neighborhoods are poorer.
- kasey_junk 8y ago
  They literally outline a house that has changed occupants (white/middle class to Latino/lower class) but the living/working situation was the same.
llukas 8y ago
You may have better car and TV than middle class from 50 years ago BUT if small emergency expense puts you in red you are not living middle class lifestyle.
Haga 8y ago
Remember to blame theire character, vices and genetics for a full retro aristocratic statement.
SolarNet 8y ago
It is a problem, especially given the context of a startup accelerator. The middle class are the core of a modern economy. People with enough money to spend on luxuries. With enough money to support multiple competing luxury products in many different markets. With the financial security to change jobs and move. With the ability to acquire enough capital to pursue an education or their ideas (e.g. into new startups). While people may be living equivalent lifestyles it's through the consolidation of core needs and improvements in efficiency (that were never passed onto workers as it happens, which is part of why the middle class is collapsing). But importantly these were applied to what used to be luxuries. If there is no one around to purchase the luxuries in bulk how will we will we ever innovate their production to a scale where they become cheap. If the market is not big enough to sustain competitors, how will we ever innovate on features. If people with ideas to change the world they live in don't have the capital to try it where does that hobbyist innovation come from. I could go on and on, but the key fact is that the middle class are the primary consumers of everything. Additionally, nearly half of the tax burden is met by the middle class (with the other half being mostly corporate taxes). Suffice it to say the middle class is the linchpin to modern economies.
flukus 8y ago
> If the modern day poor are living an equivalent life style to the middle class from 50 years ago is that really a problem? It wouldn't be if that were the case but it doesn't seem to be. Middle class 50 years ago usually meant raising kids in a house on a single income, something that few can do today. We might have more stuff and more entertainment options, but that's not what matters.

ALittleLight 8y ago

>If the modern day poor are living an equivalent life style to the middle class from 50 years ago is that really a problem? If the middle class have largely collapsed into the poor, and the poor now live as the middle class did - that implies that for the formerly middle class there has been no growth in fifty years.

chipotle_coyote 8y ago

I don't understand where you're asserting the article says that. The fact that neighborhoods whose per capita income was around the middle in 1970 are in the lower quintiles now does not mean that the 1970 middle class and the 2017 lower class have "equivalent lifestyles." It means the neighborhoods are poorer.

kasey_junk 8y ago
They literally outline a house that has changed occupants (white/middle class to Latino/lower class) but the living/working situation was the same.

llukas 8y ago

You may have better car and TV than middle class from 50 years ago BUT if small emergency expense puts you in red you are not living middle class lifestyle.

Haga 8y ago

Remember to blame theire character, vices and genetics for a full retro aristocratic statement.

SolarNet 8y ago

It is a problem, especially given the context of a startup accelerator. The middle class are the core of a modern economy. People with enough money to spend on luxuries. With enough money to support multiple competing luxury products in many different markets. With the financial security to change jobs and move. With the ability to acquire enough capital to pursue an education or their ideas (e.g. into new startups). While people may be living equivalent lifestyles it's through the consolidation of core needs and improvements in efficiency (that were never passed onto workers as it happens, which is part of why the middle class is collapsing). But importantly these were applied to what used to be luxuries. If there is no one around to purchase the luxuries in bulk how will we will we ever innovate their production to a scale where they become cheap. If the market is not big enough to sustain competitors, how will we ever innovate on features. If people with ideas to change the world they live in don't have the capital to try it where does that hobbyist innovation come from. I could go on and on, but the key fact is that the middle class are the primary consumers of everything. Additionally, nearly half of the tax burden is met by the middle class (with the other half being mostly corporate taxes). Suffice it to say the middle class is the linchpin to modern economies.

flukus 8y ago

> If the modern day poor are living an equivalent life style to the middle class from 50 years ago is that really a problem? It wouldn't be if that were the case but it doesn't seem to be. Middle class 50 years ago usually meant raising kids in a house on a single income, something that few can do today. We might have more stuff and more entertainment options, but that's not what matters.