SPOKANE, Wash. – New data from the Pew Research Center illustrates the stark economic reality that the American middle class is getting smaller as the amount of people slipping into poverty increases.
While about 61% of Americans were middle income in 1971 according to Pew, just 51% fall in that same economic bracket today.
The data reflects a trend of increasing amounts of ultra-wealthy and low-income people in the US, with the deterioration of the middle class as a result. Upper-income households increased from holding 29% of overall household income in 1970 to 48% in 2022.
The Pew data did not include specific results from Spokane County. According to Washington’s Employment Security Division, about 13.5% of the county’s population lives below the poverty level, above the 9.5% rate for the entire state.
America’s slowly vanishing middle class has given rise to a growing trend of Americans unable to respond to basic financial emergencies. A March report from British organization Oxfam found that about 40% of Americans cannot cover a $400 surprise expense.
Given that these economic trends have persisted since 1970, it is unlikely that the American middle class will see sustainable growth in the near future.
