ANIMATION:
THE COLLAPSE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS IN 20 MAJOR U.S. CITIES, Visual
Capitalist, 7/11/17
When future historians
look back at the beginning of the 21st century, they’ll note that we grappled
with many big issues.
They’ll write about the
battle between nationalism and globalism, soaring global debt, a dysfunctional
healthcare system, societal concerns around automation and AI, and pushback on
immigration. They will also note the growing number of populist leaders in
Western democracies, ranging from Marine Le Pen to Donald Trump.
However, these
historians will not view these ideas and events in isolation. Instead, they
will link them all, at least partially, to an overarching trend that is
intimately connected to today’s biggest problems: the “hollowing out” of the
middle class.
VISUALIZING
THE COLLAPSE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS
The fact is many people
have less money in their pockets – and understandably, this has motivated
people to take action against the status quo.
And while the collapse
of the middle class and income inequality are issues that receive a fair share
of discussion, we thought that this particular animation from Metrocosm helped
to put things in perspective.
The following animation
shows the change in income distribution in 20 major U.S. cities between 1970
and 2015:
The differences between
1970 and 2015 are intense. At first, each distribution is more bell-shaped,
with the majority of people in a middle income bracket – and by 2015, those
people are “pushed” out towards the extremes as they either get richer or
poorer.
A BROADER
LOOK AT INCOME INEQUALITY
This phenomenon is not
limited to major cities, either. Here’s another look at
the change in income distribution using smaller brackets and the whole U.S.
adult population:
It’s a multi-faceted
challenge, because while a significant portion of middle class households are
being shifted into lower income territory, there are also many households that
are doing the opposite. According to Pew Research, the percentage of households in
the upper income bracket has grown from 14% to 21% between 1971 and 2015.
The end result? With
people being pushed to both ends of the spectrum, the middle class has decreased considerably
in size. In 1971, the middle class made up 61% of the adult population, and by
2014 it accounted for less than 50%.
As this “core” of
society shrinks, it aggravates the aforementioned problems. People and
governments borrow more money to make up for a lack of middle class wealth,
while backlashes against globalism, free trade, and open borders are fueled.
The populists who can “fix” the broken system are elected, and so on.
Originally published on Visual Capitalist.
Comments
Click the
link for this article and see the animated version of the data since 1971 to
2017. It is stunning.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea party Leader
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