advertisement
Last week's MSN Money article "Middle class living on the edge?" summarized the findings of a recent study from the Center for American Progress and the Service Employees International Union on middle-class Americans. The study's conclusions sparked strong reactions from our readers, who voiced their opinions on the Your Money message board and through e-mail letters to the editor. Here are some of their comments.
- It would be interesting to examine the living habits of the Miller family. My guess is they have two or more classy autos, a house payment far in excess of what they could and should get by on, iPods for their kids, two or more cell phones, a BIG color TV, all manner of trendy electronic gadgets, regular vacations (so as not to disappoint the girls). My guess is also that, as a family, they eat out on a regular basis. It's not difficult to live within your means. It's called discipline, and a great number of people can't even spell the word.
- Those in power are systematically eliminating the middle class to a point where only two classes remain in this country: rich and poor. The rich pay the same price for a car or TV or computer as the poor do, yet the percentage of the disposal income is astronomically different. Gas prices go up, the rich are not affected at all; the poor on the other hand, must live without other essentials.
- People too weak to follow their own dream will always find a way to discourage yours. Winners have simply formed the habit of doing things losers don't like to do.
- I don't even have a high school education, and I was aware of these problems over five years ago. Who would have ever thought letting illegal aliens work in our country and drag down wages would have affected the middle class? Who would have thought holding wages down, decertifying the unions, moving jobs overseas, yearly double-digit increases in the cost of housing, savings accounts that pay .25% and other indicators of class warfare would affect the working class?
More from MSN Money
- All you people know is gloom and doom. The United States is enjoying the greatest economy in our history. Shame on you for your pessimism!
- Isn't it time to make things right in the land of the free? Bill Gates and Warren Buffett should be paying $1 million for a car, not the same as the poor bastard that earns $30,000 per year while Gates and Buffet are probably earning $30,000 per minute.
- I don't know where this article was attempting to lay the blame -- the usual suspects like greedy pharmaceutical companies, greedy corporate America, not paying high enough wages, rich people or George Bush -- but it is ingenuous of them not to suggest that, for the majority of these people, the blame lies in the mirror.
- It's about time we highlight what is happening to the once-great American middle class. Young people (mid 40s and younger) disdain union membership but the truth is that, until they band together and provide a "countervailing power" to current management practices, there will be a continued decline in their share of the American pie.
- How many square feet is the Miller's house? What two cars do they drive? Show me a four-person family in a 1,400-square-foot house with two Toyota Corollas that are at least five years old who can't get ahead on a little less then $100,000 and maybe I'll start feeling bad for them.
- First it was 10 months with no job to be found, followed by 28 months at less than half my 2002 compensation, then two months no work and now nearly five with compensation at 50% of my 2002 compensation. So we continue to take no vacations, do no home improvements, have no Christmas gift exchanges, avoid eating out, keep the clothes as long as we can and a host of other little things to save.
- The Millers' co-pay has gone up to $25 per visit and that is putting them on the "brink". HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
- The article is right on the money! People "think" the economy is rosy, but look what Wal-Mart and others like them pay their workers. I have estimated that there are some 50 million working Americans laid off since mid-2000 to 2005 that have found work as I have at a significant reduced compensation. Sure companies are doing well, but do your math right and the true story will surface.
- Yo, guys. Cut up the credit cards and find other hobbies to pass the time besides shopping. Invest in bonds and put away money for a rainy day or just for that relaxed feeling. Stop worrying about the rich getting richer because they will always get rich because we work to make them rich so they will hire us.
- I am upper middle class, but if my wife or I -- we have three daughters -- lost our jobs we would have to sell our house within eight months and downscale big time. We live for the moment, the present. The future is uncertain -- always.
- I'm a middle-class American and I'm doing fine and my 401(k) is doing great. Most people I talk to are also in good financial shape. Are you sure that your poll of middle-class America is correct?
Rate this Article
Click on one of the stars below to rate this article from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
Low
High
High
