ABSTRACT
When the Pew Research Center assessed the size of the middle class nationally, the result was decisive and specific. The American middle class is losing ground in metropolitan areas across the country, affecting communities from Boston to Seattle and from Dallas to Milwaukee. Middle-class people have persistently pursued social mobility, seeking to alleviate, even defy, the forces of social reproduction. The development of American industry profoundly affected middle-class work and family life. C. Wright Mills estimated that in the early 1800s just as mercantile capitalism was underway, 80 percent of workers were self-employed businessmen. Nonetheless the upper-middle class and the middle class are fairly different in their characteristics, with the economic dimension serving as a reasonable starting point. While income is a major factor determining whether jobs qualify as middle-class, the nature of the work is also relevant. Modern Americans continue to have different conceptions about the family. For instance, they engage in varied styles of childrearing.
