The new reality for the American middle class is one of anxiety and uncertainty. In fact, middle class families in 21st century America are having to face problems that were once reserved for those living closer to the poverty line. Plummeting house values, crushing medical bills, and mounting consumer debt coupled with a frighteningly stagnant job market makes for an increasingly precarious situation concerning the continued solvency of the middle class. Furthermore, the strength of the United States economy itself depends on a strong and vibrant middle class. To be sure, America is a middle class society, but perhaps not for long.
In predicting the life expectancy of the American middle class (and as a natural extension, the status of America as a middle class society), a worthy topic of exploration is that of social mobility. During the economic boom of Post World War II America, it was easy for a single income family to afford a home and a car in the suburbs. A new standard had been set, attainable for most Americans through hard work, reasonable bank loans, the GI Bill, and a little luck. The decade marked the birth of the American Dream. However, while the myth of an open American society was plastered on the magazine covers of the day, whole populations of America were operating in a closed system. African-Americans were denied the same opportunities afforded to White Americans through denial of civil rights. Sadly, in the sixty years since the hard fought battles of the Civil Rights Movement in America, not much has changed. In fact, the unemployment rate amongst African-Americans at 12.6% has remained largely unchanged (Lecture 8/27/13). If Weber were alive today, he would likely say that this was a textbook example of social closure.
As the American experiment continues it is easy to see that the middle class is stagnating. Fewer and fewer families are able to move into the third and fourth quintiles as shown in the US Census Bureaus chart detailing the Growing Spread in Family Income (Sernau 2014, Ch. 4). Even fewer are those families able to move into the fifth quintile. In the 1950s through the 1970s, attaining a new social class was much more likely. Education, coupled with opportunities made this possible. Those wealthiest individuals knew that a strong middle class buoyed their own successes. However, as the 1980s approached the wealthy seemed to forget the importance of the middle class. Seeking more profit and deeper tax cuts, they overreached, which began an erosion of the middle class in America. The Great Recession is likely a direct result of the deindustrialization of America. As America has said farewell to the manufacturing base, so could it also say farewell to the middle class.
Additionally, it is little comfort that with this widening gap comes an increase in low paying service jobs and stagnant rates of minimum wage. Credentialism is alive and well in America. While it may be beyond the scope of this essay to fully explore the lack of jobs for recent college graduates (especially in their chosen fields), it is disheartening to look at the available jobs on the OSU job boards only to find entry level jobs that require a master’s degree yet only pay $14 an hour. It hardly seems worth the effort. However, foregoing higher education often results in finding employment in a classic dead-end job situation. As an example, we can consider employment with the United States Postal Service. What was once a great organization for non-college educated people to get a job which provided health insurance, retirement, and a decent living wage has become nothing more than a glorified temp agency with decreasing wages and benefits.
Also, it is true that poverty is relative. The poor in America are better off than in most of the developing world where 2 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Hans Rosling depicts this reality in his TED Talk, where he explains that 5 billion people of the 7 billion people on planet Earth don’t own a washing machine (Lecture 9/17/13). It is a sobering notion to consider that outside of America and the developed West, people are still washing their clothes in a river. Of course, this is just one indicator of how the rest of the world lives. This doesn’t even begin to address the problems of malnutrition, lack of health care, or other vital aspects of life. How can we begin to address the real issues of global poverty when so many of us are insulated from the true consequences and challenges?
Marxist thought suggests that we are divided into owners and non-owners. His theories were revolutionary at the time and continue to inform arguments for and against capitalism (or socialism, depending on which side of the fence you are on), but they are too black and white to be of any real use in todays complicated economic and social climate. There are far too many factors to consider given the rise of technology and it’s enormous affect on the workers of the world. Further, globalization (something that Marx could not have foreseen) complicates matters even more.
Finally, the question must be answered––if America is a middle class society, why is there so much poverty? These days, in many political and social arenas, people will often say that poverty is a product of laziness. This is a fallacy, and mostly serves as a convenient salve for a troubled conscience. Poverty exists because of a systematic exploitation of the less fortunate, less connected, and less educated. The wealthy have become so by standing on the backs of the poor. Further, the concept of social reproduction says that they will remain so. Interestingly, it is likely that the wealthy wants (needs?) the middle class to disappear. After all, the poor fulfill a variety of important roles in society. In fact, sociologist Herbert Gans states that there are no less than fifteen roles that the poor fulfill (Gans, Positive Functions of Poverty). It would be far too simplistic to repeat the adage that “the world needs ditch diggers, too” but it’s a notion that the wealthy sometimes seem to identify with.
What is to be done to preserve America as a middle class society? Of course, there are many possible solutions––nearly all of them requiring a sacrifice from the wealthy (specifically regarding their precious bottom lines). One suggestion includes returning America’s manufacturing base to urban centers on our soil, rather than in foreign countries (as globalization and the ever increasing need for profit require), and paying those American workers a decent living wage. Finally, as stated in the beginning of this essay a countries economy is only as strong as it’s middle class. For the future success of America, some sacrifices must be made. I suggest we start at the top.
Sernau, Scott. 2014. Social Inequality in a Global Age. Los Angeles: Sage Publications
Gans, Herbert J. 1972. “The Positive Functions of Poverty”. The American Journal of Sociology 78, No.2: 257-289. Accessed via Carmen.
Dwyer, Dr. Rachel. Lecture “Poverty”. 9/17/13.
Lecture “Wealth and Elites”. 9/26/13.
Lecture. “Theories of Social Stratification”. 8/27/13.
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