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The US middle class is in a "lost decade" as its share of the country's income
has been surpassed by affluent earners, a new report says.
The Pew Research Center found that 62% of middle class Americans reported they
were being forced to reduce spending.
And 43% expect their children's standard of living will be better than their
own, down from 51% in 2008.
Both US presidential candidates have offered competing plans for the economy to
middle class voters.
But among the self-described middle class, 52% of adults believe President
Barack Obama's policies in a second term would help them, opposed to 42% who
said electing Republican challenger Mitt Romney would do the same.
About half of US adults define themselves as middle class, roughly the same
percentage defined by US Census data, with incomes ranging from about $39,000
to $118,000 ( 24,000 to 74,000).
Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economics professor told
the Associated Press that the middle class has been hurt by rises in healthcare
costs and college tuition, as well as disappearing mid-wage jobs.
"No matter who is president, the climb back up for the middle class and the
recovery will be slow and often painful," Mr Smeeding said.
Congress, banks to blame
Congress was the most likely to be blamed for middle class economic woes, with
62% of respondents saying "a lot" of the blame lies with the legislative body.
Banks and financial institutions were the second most likely to be blamed.
The study also found that most - 85% - of middle class Americans feel it is now
more difficult than a decade ago to maintain their standard of living.
Data from the US Census and the Federal Reserve showed that both median
household income and net worth for the middle class were down from 2000, with
earnings for a family of three falling from $72,956 to $69,487.
Pew's analysis also found that upper-tier incomes accounted for 46% of US
aggregate household income in 2010, surpassing middle-tier incomes (45% for the
first time since 1970). In 1970, those percentages were 29% for upper-tier
incomes and 62% for middle-tier incomes.
The percentage for lowest tier incomes have remained largely unchanged.
Overall, the percentage of Americans in the middle class declined, from 54% in
2001 to 51% in 2011, while both the percentages of people in the upper and
lower class grew.