In 2006, the figure plunged to 8 million, the report states. That percentage has been falling ever since. In 2000, 39 percent of middle class families, or about 12 million, qualified as solidly middle class based on five key measures of financial health: assets, education, costs of housing, money in the bank after expenses, and health-insurance coverage. That’s as many as eight million families in the last nine years, with a median income of $80,000 for a family of four, according to public-policy group Demos. NEW YORK CITY’S MIDDLE CLASS IS VOTING WITH THEIR FEETĪs a result of a sizeable drop in home values, along with over-extended credit and rising unemployment, as many as one in four of the 31 million middle class families are in danger of dropping a rung on the economic ladder, statistics show.
The very Americans the Obama administration is hoping will lift the economy out of recession are facing epic challenges.