ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses three inter-related trends regarding social class and the economy. The first is that the US economy has demonstrated two distinct periods since 1945. Second, middle-class America has changed in at least two ways. Fewer households qualify as middle class by any measure utilized. Third, poverty affects a large segment of society, as much as 40 percent, depending on the measurement used. Income inequality refers to the skewed distribution of income among the population. Social class refers to the grouping of people by access to resources including money, opportunity, power, and social status. Social mobility refers to the likelihood that a person will exceed their parents’ social class. A graduate-degreed author of privileged background, he admits to making lifestyle choices without regard to financial stability. Minimum wage refers to the lowest legal hourly rate a person can be paid. The tax structure refers to all the ways the government collects revenues.
