n the Decline of America's Middle Class Revealed Through Decades of Data - You Won't Believe What the Research Says!"

 Fifty years ago, 61% of Americans made up the core of the middle class; currently, they are almost a majority at 51%. According to a recent Pew Research Center analysis, over the same period. 

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The percentage of Americans in low-income households increased from 27% to 30%, and those in high-income groups increased from 11% to 19%. This data shows a growing income gap, where the wealth of upper-income households increases faster than that of middle and lower income groups.

Pew Research Center defines the middle class as households earning between two-thirds and twice the national median income, adjusted for household size. In today's terms, for a family of three, this would mean an annual income range of about $60,000 to $180,000. Based on current median income figures.

However, as economic benchmarks shift, the composition of the middle class also changes. Over the past five decades, all income levels have seen median incomes increase, adjusted for inflation.

However, the distribution of profits obtained is unequal, creating an increasingly large income gap.From 1970 to 2022, the median income of middle-class households increased by 60%, from about $66,400 to $106,100. 

In contrast, high-income households saw their median income increase by 78%, from about $144,100 to $256,900. Low-income households had the slowest growth rate, with their median income increasing by only 55%, from about $22,800 to $35,300.

In 2022, the median income of high-income households was 7.3 times the median income of low-income households, up from 6.3 times in 1970. Similarly, high-income households earned 2.4 times more median income of middle-income households, which is a significant increase from 2.2 times in 1970.

These trends mark a structural shift in the economy, where increased growth is increasingly concentrated in the upper classes. As a result, the share of total US household income belonging to the middle class has declined consistently every decade since 1970.

Middle-income households, which once controlled 62% of the aggregate income of all US households, now control only 43%. In contrast, the share of income held by high-income households increased from 29% to 48% in the same period.

Immigration also plays a role in the shrinking middle class. According to the study, immigrants – who will make up 14% of the US population in 2022 – are less likely to be middle class than those born in the US and more likely to live in low-income households.

More than a third of immigrants (36%) live in low-income households, compared with 29% of U.S.-born residents, the report said.

The impact of these changes is not uniform across middle class demographics.

Certain groups, particularly black and Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders, and American Indians or Alaska Natives, are more likely to be at the lower end of the income spectrum within the middle class or even below it.

For example, in 2022, 39% to 47% of the groups mentioned above were classified in the low-income group. According to research, the economic mobility of these groups is often hampered by systemic barriers, including access to education. 

employment opportunities, and wealth accumulation. The entrenched nature of these barriers makes it a challenge for many individuals in these communities to advance to higher income levels.

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