If you know someone that still doesn't believe the U.S. middle class is literally falling apart, show them this video because by the end of it, they will probably have a different opinion. Overall, the longterm trends that have been eviscerating the middle class just continued to accelerate in the past few years. The percentage of middleclass jobs has significantly shrunk while the wealth of the typical American household has fallen precipitously. Homes are still the main asset class helping American families climb the income ladder, however, the rate of homeownership has been steadily declining as housing costs exploded all across the country. Now, we're seeing millions of middleclass households struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. And yet, the decline of the U.S. middleclass is a crisis we're not properly paying attention to.
Inflation has actually been squeezing the middle class for decades, but official numbers mask this reality. For instance, everyday expenses for middle and lowincome families rose 40% beyond what the Consumer Price Index would indicate, more than wiping out a middleincome worker’s gains. Another example of this is that between 2001 and 2020, rents shot up by 150%, at the same time, the official measure of housing costs only grew by a mere 54%. As housing prices soar, middleclass households with median annual incomes of $100,000 can only purchase homes in 36% of the country’s markets whose value is below $428,700 – and that’s assuming they already have a 20% down payment on hand. This also means that the middle class is now locked out of 64% of housing markets, BlackKnight data shows. 
The skyrocketing prices of fuel, food, housing, and other necessities are extremely disconcerting to Americans who live paycheck to paycheck. Despite recent wage gains, 64% of the entire population was living paycheck to paycheck in March, meaning that over twothirds of Americans reportedly said they had “little or nothing left at the end of the month after expenses," according to a LendingClub survey. Even rich people are living paycheck to paycheck. LendingClub reported that more than onethird, or 36%, of paychecktopaycheck consumers in the U.S. earn at least $250,000, suggesting that inflation is affecting how Americans of all income levels handle their budgets.
According to the National Institute on Retirement Security, 62% percent of middleclass Americans are worried about not having enough for retirement. Tyler Bond, the institute’s ​​research manager said that the US "can no longer afford retirement". A new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security found that the tax breaks designed to encourage Americans’ retirement savings disproportionately benefit highincome households and do little to assist middleclass families.
There are so many families out there facing financial hardships right now. So many husbands and wives constantly fighting with one another about money without even understanding that the position they're at right now is the result of decades of terrible decisions made by our socalled leaders. Without the middleclass, America loses its foundation. And as this group gets smaller and smaller, poverty is gradually spreading across the nation.
That's why today, we compiled 30 statistics that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class in America is being systematically destroyed.


For more info, find us on: https://www.epiceconomist.com/
And visit: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/