http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-fi-middle-class-erosion-20151209-story.htmlDon LeeDon LeeContact Reporter
The nation's middle class, long a pillar of the American economy, has shrunk to the point where it no longer constitutes the majority of the adult population, according to a new major study.
Rapid growth of upper-income households, coupled with an increase in less-educated, low earners, has driven the decline of the middle-income population to a hair below 50% of the total this year, the Pew Research Center reported Wednesday. In 1971, the middle class accounted for 61% of the population, and it has been declining steadily since.
The tipping point appears to have occurred in the past couple of years of the recovery from the Great Recession as the economy has continued to reward the highly educated, well-to-do investors and those with technical skills.
The report puts in sharp relief the nation's increasing income divide — expected to be a central issue in the 2016 presidential race — and highlights how various economic and demographic forces have eroded long-held American ideals about a strong, majority middle class.
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