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By definition (of the OCDE) the middle class is the middle 3 quintiles, e.g. people who make more than the bottom 20% and less than the top 20%. In US in 2011,
by eloisant 12y ago
By definition (of the OCDE) the middle class is the middle 3 quintiles, e.g. people who make more than the bottom 20% and less than the top 20%.
In US in 2011, that meant a household making between about 20k and 100k. So yes the middle class is huge (60% of the population by definition), and 40k is right in the middle quintile (between 38k and 62k). Not upper-middle-class, but not "minimum wage working class" either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_...
- shakethemonkey 12y agoUnfortunately this is a terrifically bad definition of middle class, and may not match what people think of as "middle class" life. By this logic, 13th century feudal society had an ample middle class.
- eloisant 12y agoThe problem with "what people think of middle class" is that everyone has a different idea of what it is, depending on where they are on the revenue scale. That leads to discussions like this thread.
- shakethemonkey 12y agoAbsolutely correct. But we also know that the OCDE definition is a strict percentage which is so absurd it creates large middle classes in cultures which have absolutely no middle class. And events may unfold such that the definition may be absurd even in our own culture in 20? 50? years.