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Re: Prop. 13 The ultimate middle class hypocrisy.
Author: realistic leftist
Date: 10-17-2016 - 12:07
Yes, the middle class still exists in the US, but the definition has changed up so it's not what it used to be. Since there are so few well-paid union or factory jobs any more, working people (for wages, mainly) are unlikely to qualify any more. I'd consider "middle class" indicators these days to be two or more of:
* Annual gross income of $100K-500K
* Net worth, excluding personal residence if owned (because house values are so variable by area, and can be misleading or overweight if bought a long time ago), of $250K-$1 million
* Paid work (wages or equivalent, including "gigs" or individual contracting) or earned pension at least half of annual income
* Ownership of and active participation in a small business (less than 10 employees or gig workers) worth less than $1 million
* Passive income (interest, dividends, rents, capital gain) less than 20% of annual income.
* Sufficient financial resources to withstand a $10K expense (such as replacing a car with 20% or more down, replacing a roof, replacing a home air conditioner) without having to borrow money.
Most "working people" outside of tech and engineering businesses are unlikely to meet enough of those criteria to be "middle class." Supervisors and mid-management probably do qualify. C-suite is way above. Retirees with a traditional pension, other than police/fire/Corrections who likely would be solidly in the group, will probably at least tickle the lower end if they stayed in government work for a long time and got promoted to mid-level or higher.
The real loss I see is in the lower-middle class. Union and factory jobs once pushed a lot of people up to near or just over the bottom of "middle class" status, but with many of those jobs downsized or downgraded the category has faded a lot. So "middle class" has moved upscale.
* Annual gross income of $100K-500K
* Net worth, excluding personal residence if owned (because house values are so variable by area, and can be misleading or overweight if bought a long time ago), of $250K-$1 million
* Paid work (wages or equivalent, including "gigs" or individual contracting) or earned pension at least half of annual income
* Ownership of and active participation in a small business (less than 10 employees or gig workers) worth less than $1 million
* Passive income (interest, dividends, rents, capital gain) less than 20% of annual income.
* Sufficient financial resources to withstand a $10K expense (such as replacing a car with 20% or more down, replacing a roof, replacing a home air conditioner) without having to borrow money.
Most "working people" outside of tech and engineering businesses are unlikely to meet enough of those criteria to be "middle class." Supervisors and mid-management probably do qualify. C-suite is way above. Retirees with a traditional pension, other than police/fire/Corrections who likely would be solidly in the group, will probably at least tickle the lower end if they stayed in government work for a long time and got promoted to mid-level or higher.
The real loss I see is in the lower-middle class. Union and factory jobs once pushed a lot of people up to near or just over the bottom of "middle class" status, but with many of those jobs downsized or downgraded the category has faded a lot. So "middle class" has moved upscale.
