The Myth of the Shrinking Middle Class

Andrew Cassel takes a look at the supposedly deteriorating middle class in America and discovers some interesting things:

According to a new analysis by a group called Third Way, the American middle class is in better shape than many believe.

Take incomes. Official statistics say that median household income in 2005 was $46,326.That doesn't seem like much, particularly for a family with kids. If you imagine half of all such families trying to get by on less than that (median means half earn less, half more), it sounds fairly grim.

But as the Third Way paper points out, that median doesn't just include stereotypical nuclear families. It includes everyone - including single people in their early 20s and retirees living off pensions and Social Security, who together make up a third of U.S. households.

Narrow the sample to households headed by people between ages 25 and 60 and the median income is much higher. In 2005, it was $61,269.

For married couples the median is higher still - $72,216. And among couples who both work outside the home, the 2005 median income was $81,365.

$72 or $81K is not bad scratch and more than enough to comfortably raise a family.

I know Democrats are saying; who is Third Way, they must be some right-wing group supported by Fox News or the Weekly Standard. They would be wrong:

Third Way, which is affiliated with the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, also takes issue with the notion that today's middle class is less economically secure.

That's right, they are an off-shoot of the Bill Clinton created DLC. Third Way describes their mission thusly:

Third Way is a non-profit, non-partisan strategy center for progressives. We are advancing a 21st century progressive agenda by working with elected officials, candidates, and advocates to create policies and market those ideas in the public debate.

No conservative organization there.