# 44 Facts About The Death Of The Middle Class



## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/...-middle-class-that-every-american-should-know

1. According to one recent survey, "four out of five U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives".

2. The growth rate of real disposable personal income is the lowest that it has been in decades.

3. Median household income (adjusted for inflation) has fallen by 7.8 percent since the year 2000.

4. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the middle class is taking home a smaller share of the overall income pie than has ever been recorded before.

5. The home ownership rate in the United States is the lowest that it has been in 18 years.

6. It is more expensive to rent a home in America than ever before. In fact, median asking rent for vacant rental units just hit a brand new all-time record high.

7. According to one recent survey, 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

8. The U.S. economy actually lost 240,000 full-time jobs last month, and the number of full-time workers in the United States is now about 6 million below the old record that was set back in 2007.

9. The largest employer in the United States right now is Wal-Mart. The second largest employer in the United States right now is a temp agency (Kelly Services).

10. One out of every ten jobs in the United States is now filled through a temp agency.

11. According to the Social Security Administration, 40 percent of all workers in the United States make less than $20,000 a year.

12. The ratio of wages and salaries to GDP is near an all-time record low.

13. The U.S. economy continues to trade good paying jobs for low paying jobs. 60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession were mid-wage jobs, but 58 percent of the jobs created since then have been low wage jobs.

14. Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

15. At this point, one out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less.

16. According to one study, between 1969 and 2009 the median wages earned by American men between the ages of 30 and 50 declined by 27 percent after you account for inflation.

17. In the year 2000, about 17 million Americans were employed in manufacturing. Today, only about 12 million Americans are employed in manufacturing.

18. The United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.

19. The average number of hours worked per employed person per year has fallen by about 100 since the year 2000.

20. Back in the year 2000, more than 64 percent of all working age Americans had a job. Today, only 58.7 percent of all working age Americans have a job.

21. When you total up all working age Americans that do not have a job, it comes to more than 100 million.

22. The average duration of unemployment in the United States is nearly three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

23. The percentage of Americans that are self-employed has steadily declined over the past decade and is now at an all-time low.

24. Right now there are 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing. That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.

25. In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent. Today it is up to 154 percent.

26. Total U.S. household debt grew from just 1.4 trillion dollars in 1980 to a whopping 13.7 trillion dollars in 2007. This played a huge role in the financial crisis of 2008, and the problem still has not been solved.

27. The total amount of student loan debt in the United States recently surpassed the one trillion dollar mark.

28. Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.

29. Back in the year 2000, the mortgage delinquency rate was about 2 percent. Today, it is nearly 10 percent.

30. Consumer debt in the United States has risen by a whopping 1700% since 1971, and 46% of all Americans carry a credit card balance from month to month.

31. In 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-based health insurance. Today, only 55.1 percent are covered by employment-based health insurance.

32. One study discovered that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt, and according to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of all personal bankruptcies in the United States.

33. Each year, the average American must work 107 days just to make enough money to pay local, state and federal taxes.

34. Today, approximately 46.2 million Americans are living in poverty.

35. The number of Americans living in poverty has increased by more than 15 million since the year 2000.

36. Families that have a head of household under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.

37. At this point, approximately 25 million American adults are living with their parents.

38. In the year 2000, there were only 17 million Americans on food stamps. Today, there are more than 47 million Americans on food stamps.

39. Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.

40. Right now, the number of Americans on food stamps exceeds the entire population of the nation of Spain.

41. According to one calculation, the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of "Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming."

42. At this point, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless. This is the first time that has ever happened in our history. That number has risen by 57 percent since the 2006-2007 school year.

43. According to U.S. Census data, 57 percent of all American children live in a home that is either considered to be "poor" or "low income".

44. In the year 2000, the ratio of social welfare benefits to salaries and wages was approximately 21 percent. Today, the ratio of social welfare benefits to salaries and wages is approximately 35 percent.

And not only is the middle class being systematically destroyed right now, we are also destroying the bright economic future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have by accumulating gigantic mountains of debt in their names. The following is from a recent article


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Can it even be fixed?


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Time for a big reset.


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## CoffeeTastic (Apr 12, 2013)

Is this correct:


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## walter (Jun 5, 2013)

The rich are doing very well. The poor aren't doing that bad either.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Speak for yourself Walter. I work 30-35 hours a week for $8/hour. I have 2 college degrees. Do the math. I do not have health insurance through work, and since hubby has been hurt, we can't afford insurance through his work so we don't have any. We have lived off my pay and $384/child support since February, borrowing money from my grandpa to pay bills. 2 car payments ($375 and $400), 2 credit cards ($160 and $100), car insurance ($250), cell phone ($150) utilities ($50). We own our home thankfully, but have had to default on my student loans and another credit card bc we can't afford them. We do not get food stamps. 

Tell me, how am I 'not doing too bad either'?


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

dixiemama said:


> Speak for yourself Walter. I work 30-35 hours a week for $8/hour. I have 2 college degrees. Do the math. I do not have health insurance through work, and since hubby has been hurt, we can't afford insurance through his work so we don't have any. We have lived off my pay and $384/child support since February, borrowing money from my grandpa to pay bills. 2 car payments ($375 and $400), 2 credit cards ($160 and $100), car insurance ($250), cell phone ($150) utilities ($50). We own our home thankfully, but have had to default on my student loans and another credit card bc we can't afford them. We do not get food stamps.
> 
> Tell me, how am I 'not doing too bad either'?


Not knowing your personal details but opening my pie hole anyway.

Sale the worst of the two cars. $375 a month savings.
Eliminate the credit cards. $260 a month savings.
Car insurance for only 1 car. $100 a month savings.
Eliminate the smart cell phone with internet access and texting. $100 a month savings.

Now you have freed up $835 every month. That would slow down your financial bleeding.

Walter's post I took as referring to those that don't want to work and prefer to live on the handouts form the Feds.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

dixiemama said:


> 2 car payments ($375 and $400),


 OUCH!!



dixiemama said:


> car insurance ($250),


 per MONTH?!?!?! Crap, that's $3000 a year!!!!



dixiemama said:


> cell phone ($150)


 I hope that's a "family plan" with a lot of phones on one bill... hope those *"others"* are paying their way as well!


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Have to have both vehicles-- I frequently travel for work out of town hours away from home and hubby has to have vehicle. Insurance is full coverage, biggest plan we can get. Credit cards are Polaris ranger for the farm and the other is where he's been off and we've needed gas, groceries, etc. once our emergency fund ran out. The cells are a family plan with 2 phones that is our only phone/computer/internet.


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## walter (Jun 5, 2013)

dixiemama said:


> Speak for yourself Walter. I work 30-35 hours a week for $8/hour. I have 2 college degrees. Do the math. I do not have health insurance through work, and since hubby has been hurt, we can't afford insurance through his work so we don't have any. We have lived off my pay and $384/child support since February, borrowing money from my grandpa to pay bills. 2 car payments ($375 and $400), 2 credit cards ($160 and $100), car insurance ($250), cell phone ($150) utilities ($50). We own our home thankfully, but have had to default on my student loans and another credit card bc we can't afford them. We do not get food stamps.
> 
> Tell me, how am I 'not doing too bad either'?


I'm not rich. By "poor" I was talking mostly about folks on welfare.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

I qualify for food stamps but won't get them. Trust me I'm POOR


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

dixiemama said:


> ...and hubby has to have vehicle..


BS!!!!!!! He's not working, why the hell does he *"need"* a 2011 Chevy truck? I'd sell that damn thing.

I make way more money than y'all and I am perfectly happy driving a 1993 Ranger with 200,000 miles on it.... that I paid cash for 16 years ago. If anyone "needs" a _"new"_ truck, it would be me - but I still don't _"need"_ one as long as the one I have runs fine and does everything I need it to do for me.

I don't know what your husband is "suffering" from...... but if he can't afford to pay for that 2011 truck with his own earnings..... he does NOT "need" it.

You don't "need" that Polaris Ranger either. That is a damn overpriced, expensive TOY (a *plaything*, with very little practical usefulness) and nothing more. Don't come here and complain about how poor you are and how everything is so expensive blah blah blah blah blah.... the only simple truth is you are living above your means (which a set up for failure in all cases), and it is extremely unwise to do so. You *can't afford to own* the nice toys you bought, and that's the truth.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

I make pretty good money. However, my wife recently got fired for being pregnant (which is a WHOLE different issue....) and we are currently living off of my salary alone. Or, you know, we WERE until the whole "government shutdown" thing. 

Anyhow...

We are currently trying to make adjustments to cut our expenses. Trying to sell my 2011 Charger to get rid of that $400/month payment. Looking to buy a nice old Cherokee or Bronco and pay cash for it. $60,000 a year SOUNDS like a lot, but when you consider that a decent rental in this area cannot be found for less than $1,400/month... One of the big adjustments we are hoping to make in the next year is to get the heck out of Maryland.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

He doesn't need the new truck but we bought it almost 2 years before he was hurt. It will be paid off next November. 

We've been trying to sell the Polaris for almost 2 years but with all the job loss in eastern KY who can afford it?

He has to have a vehicle bc what if I have to be gone for 3 days for work and he has a doc appt, or our son gets hurt or there is an emergency? 

At the time, we cld afford all this and had 6 months of emergency cash. That plus my earnings is what we have lived off of for almost a year.

He is suffering from 4 herniated discs, 3 pinched nerves, spinal chord impingement, loss of feeling in right leg, bladder and bowel issues, plus hip deformities. 

Anyone want to buy the Polaris? Payoff is $10,500 it has less than 300 hours on it, 1 ton towing/hauling capabilities (that are proven, its not just dealer BS), windshield and winch with plow blade. Its a great farm implement which is what we've been using it as-hauling sand, dirt and gravel, in the garden, and it helped us keep the tons of mud and water from the coal mine blowout from destroying our workshops and my car. 

If we had another vehicle, we would sell his truck. At the time, we could afford it all. I'm not looking for sympathy bc I'm not a victim. If you all just think I'm some naive, whiny brat then I'll leave the forum. I won't stay where I'm not wanted.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

dixiemama said:


> we bought it almost 2 years before he was hurt. At the time, we could afford it all.


I can see how it made sense back then.

How long has he been down now? How long will it be until he's fixed up again? Is Workman's Comp paying for his injuries?


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Nov. 29 will be a year. He can't be 'fixed'- he has to live with his injuries bc the spinal impingement is so bad he cld be paralyzed with surgery or epidural injections. He was just awarded comp beginning of Sept. but hasn't received the first check bc his adjustor is an ass who has screwed up his paper work; he changed our address 4 times this month when its been the same for 3 years. 

Trust me, if we had ANY inkling that he was going to get hurt and be out of work, we would have kept his 2007 Chevy that would have been paid off last Feb and my 05 Envoy that would have been paid off last April. 2 $250 payments are a lot better than what we have now. 

Both vehicles will be paid off in 13 months. 

I am not this naive 30 year old girl who expects life to be handed to me and it all be rosey. I grew up poor, on welfare bc my mom is disabled due to epilepsy and a dead beat dad who wldnt pay child support. I have had to work for what I have. We built our home ourselves so we wldnt have a mortgage. What 30 year old do you know that out right owns their home with no mortgage? 

I was serious about the Polaris....


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

dixiemama said:


> I qualify for food stamps but won't get them. Trust me I'm POOR


If you are turning down food stamps or other assistance the rest of us have paid taxes to provide, I respect your principles, but suggest you might want to set them aside long enough to get out of the hole.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

His check (5 weeks worth) will be here one day next week and then we will not qualify. We have all year but it wasn't a matter of principle; I have received them before. It wasn't pride either. We had our emergency fund, our preps and we seriously thought he was going to go back to work. 

We were blind sided by the many diagnoses because he has worked since he was 9, literally 20 years, doing manual labor. Be it cutting grass, trees, hauling off junk for old people, heating and cooling, mechanics, carpentry, electric, plumbing, you name it, he's prob done it. We didn't think his back was that bad.


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## boomer (Jul 13, 2011)

I cannot count the number of people who I know who have gone on to exceed the expectations of their doctors. If the two of you do not think it is all that bad perhaps it will heal enough for him to go back to work doing something a little less strenuous.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

I pray that is true boomer. He pushes himself in therapy and at home beyond what his docs tell him and he pays for it later. The numbness has increased, as has the bowel and bladder issues to the point that he has a cane and extra clothes (beyond GHB) with him at all times. All trips are planned around bathroom breaks now. 

We initially thought it was a pulled muscle but after x-rays and MRI, finding out all that is wrong, researching all that can happen with the conditions he has, as much as he hates to admit, I believe he will have to sign up for disability. 

It has really hurt his pride not bringing in any income. He would be satisfied to a point doing anything to help but with his skills, there aren't any jobs he can do with his docs restrictions and his personal limitations.


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