WUC NEWS: Middle Class

30 stats to show to anyone that does not believe the middle class is being destroyed

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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 30 statistics that you are about to read prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the<a href="http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/06/05/half-country-makes-less-27520-year-15-signs-middle-class-dying/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Half The Country Makes Less Than $27,520 A Year And 15 Other Signs The Middle Class Is Dying">middle class</a><span style="font-size: small;"> in America is being systematically destroyed.  Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most prosperous </span><a href="http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/05/29/next-recession-already-begun-americas-middle-class/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Has The Next Recession Already Begun For America’s Middle Class?">middle class</a><span style="font-size: small;"> in the history of the world, but now that is changing at a staggering pace.  Yes, the stock market has soared to unprecedented heights this year and there are a few isolated areas of the country that are doing rather well for the moment.  But overall, the long-term trends that are eviscerating the </span><a href="http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/04/23/middle-class-canada-now-better-middle-class-america/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="The Middle Class In Canada Is Now Doing Better Than The Middle Class In America">middle class</a><span style="font-size: small;"> just continue to accelerate.  Over the past decade or so, the percentage of Americans that are working </span><a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Employment-Population-Ratio-2014.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="has gone way down">has gone way down</a><span style="font-size: small;">, the quality of our jobs has plummeted dramatically and the wealth of the typical American household has fallen precipitously.  Meanwhile, we have watched median household income decline </span><a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/median-household-income-has-fallen-for-five-years-in-a-row" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="for five years in a row">for five years in a row</a><span style="font-size: small;">, we have watched the rate of homeownership in this country decline for eight years in a row and dependence on the government is at an all-time high.  Being a part of the </span><a href="http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/03/15/amnesty-jobs-none-deliberate-destruction-middle-class/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Amnesty for All, Jobs for None: The Deliberate Destruction of the Middle Class">middle class</a><span style="font-size: small;"> in the United States at this point can be compared to playing a game of musical chairs.  We can all see chairs being removed from the game, and we are all desperate to continue to have a chair every time the music stops playing.  The next time the music stops, will it be your chair that gets removed?</span></span></div>

30 stats to show to anyone that does not believe the middle class is being destroyed

The 30 statistics that you are about to read prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class in America is being systematically d...

I Had a Middle Class Job and I Still Ended Up on Food Stamps at 60

<div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 22px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On December 23, 2013 two days before my 60th birthday, I swallowed a stomach full of pride and walked into the Department of Social Services to ask for help. It is something I never imagined I would do. I am ashamed to admit that I am one of those people who thought it would always be someone else, someone worse off who just didn't or couldn't work hard enough, who would need that type of assistance. I was wrong, because I am the new working poor.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 22px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img height="300" src="http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/screen_shot_2014-01-15_at_1.24.36_pm.png" width="400" /></span></div> 
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<div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 22px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both my parents were children of the Great Depression, both knew hunger -- the real, not-having-food-for-several-days kind of hunger. Both knew disappointment. My father had to turn down a scholarship to Notre Dame to work alongside his father, delivering coal to the wealthy. Neither of my parents ever caught a break. Every time an illness or disaster would set them back, they would work that much harder to make my life and those of my four siblings better. We didn't have much, hand-me-downs and second-hand everything. But unlike our parents, we never went hungry. After all, this is America, they would tell us, and your life is not dictated by the circumstances of your birth.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 22px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like my father, I had to start working at the age of 16 to help the family pay medical bills. At 30, I was able to enroll in college classes through a tuition assistance program. Over the next few years circumstances changed, my marriage ended amicably, so I never attained a degree. Overall, I still did much better than my parents had. In my early thirties, I was able to buy a small home despite the fact that mortgage rates were above 16 percent. I worked steadily up through the ranks as a technician, engineer, and manager in small and mid-sized companies, and then I spent the nineties at a large corporation. I did well.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 22px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had no trouble refinancing my home for a lower interest rate; I paid my bills and, unlike my parents, I was able to save money for the future. I could go out for dinner when I wished, and could indulge in my passion for the new home computers. I never went anywhere on vacation and I didn't buy expensive luxury goods but even so, I believed that I was safely ensconced in the middle class. I was wrong.</span></div><div style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 22px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the beginning of 2000, I left my mid-level corporate position to start my own Web design and hosting business. Although neither of my parents lived to see it, I had attained their dream for me. I earned more money than I ever had, and I invested my corporate pension into a small business retirement fund.</span></div><br />
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I Had a Middle Class Job and I Still Ended Up on Food Stamps at 60

On December 23, 2013 two days before my 60th birthday, I swallowed a stomach full of pride and walked into the Department of Social Services...

WUC NEWS

30 stats to show to anyone that does not believe the middle class is being destroyed

I Had a Middle Class Job and I Still Ended Up on Food Stamps at 60

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