Going...Going...Gone "The Middle Class"

Yesterday I went to the grocery store to pick up a few items for the weekend.  As I found my way to the meat section, I looked over what might be something quick to cook without firing up the oven. We have been enduring a major heat wave in the Central Valley, with temperatures hovering between 102 – 110 degrees every day, so heating up my kitchen was just not going to be an option.

I ended up choosing hamburger so I could make some of my oh so succulent tacos for my hubby and me. As my eyes scanned the price tags on the rosy red packages (sorry vegans) I couldn’t help but think…what the hell; a pound of hamburger is $8.99!

I then headed to the detergent section. My washer had been out of commission for a few days due to a leak in one of the hoses, so when the new hose arrived I began catching up and needed more wash soap.  Now, I do look for bargains whenever possible, but as I contemplated my choices, they were all tethering between $9.98 and $14.98.

Now to get some bacon for seasonal bacon and tomato sandwiches (I grow my own tomatoes and there is just nothing better in the summer than a vine ripened BLT!).   Yikes!  A pound of bacon was priced at between $4.98 and $7.78!

My shopping concluded after gathering a few more items and the bill (with less than 15 items in my basket) was over $100.  Just basic staples, including toilet paper and the like.

When I get home I Google information about pricing changes in household goods from 2008 to 2016 and here’s what I found: (These prices were taken from Wal-Mart not Whole Foods).

As I looked at the comparative chart, my eye caught a non-perishable... college tuition, which had skyrocketed from $6,015 to $9,960 a year. I know that students, young and adult, are leaving college now with bigger student loans than ever.  I spoke to a friend last week that was headed to a law school that would indebt him for $75,000 a year…obviously Ivy League (best wishes counselor!).

Sunday morning, as I was reading the newspaper assessing all of the political rhetoric and campaign promises, I Google comparatives on wages from 2008 to 2016. The median wage in 2008 was $40,523 and in 2016 it is $44,600, meaning that the average increase each year for the past 8 years was $510.00!

Does that register with anyone reading this? It sure did with me!

Let me preface the remainder of my comments by saying that I am a member of the Middle Class and I’ll bet you are too (yep, I am going to capitalize it because it bears attention) . The wage numbers represent Americans that are barely squeezing by (like a single mom or a dual income family that experienced a job layoff).  A Middle Class citizen will not be able to relate to their dilemma any more than the 1%-3% relate to the Middle Class’s financial challenges, unless they have struggled through it.

So as my friend, Gina Estrada with AXA Financial would say, “we don’t have an expense problem, we have an income problem”. We just don’t have enough money to keep pace with the rising cost of essentials.

Some facts from the U. S. Census Bureau:

• As you can see, the median household income has remained virtually unchanged, with very little increase.

• Healthcare costs have risen 150 percent since 2009, (this mirrors our personal insurance increases).

• Student loan debt has jumped nearly 70%.

• Unemployment has jumped from 20% to 23%

• Homeownership has dipped from 67.3% to 63.5%

• Americans living in poverty have jumped from 39.8 million in 2008 to 46.7 million today.

• Oh, and here’s one for you…22 million adults ages 18-34 are still living with their parents (I’ll pray for those parents!).

I am just citing a few statistics to make a point; however, the fact that we really need to mull over is based on the ever increasing inflation rate. Food has increased by 29% while wages have increased by only $10.4%.

We are not headed in an economically positive direction at all. We just assimilate to the changes the best we can, as our class status, whatever that might be, continues to erode, .

President Obama summarized the rise of inequality very succinctly in his Osawatomie, Kansas speech, when he said, “over the last few decades, the rungs on the ladder of opportunity have grown farther and farther apart, and the middle class has shrunk.” 

I won’t argue political ideologies with you, I will however, debate the reality of how this has affected our family budget over the past 8 years (we are a six figure income, Middle Class couple) and ask you to consider how much more you are willing to concede to the promises of politicians who are multimillionaires, pandering to our emotions for a vote.  I am still amazed that a public servant, now running for office, can amass a net worth of $45 million dollars?

The truth is, America is not better now than 8 years ago and that is a result of the policies that have been shoved down the Middle Class’s throat from both sides of the isle.  Our current administration and Congress are both responsible, by design.

The Middle Class hold up this economy. We do it by working hard and being subject to taxation. We are wined and dined so that we continue to “take the bait”.  Have you noticed how each candidate for office plays the polls? How women all of a sudden become important or children, or any other endangered, victimized minority class?

The contraction of the Middle Class (you and me) will continue because of self-serving political posturing and the demise of the Boomer generation, who through attrition will no longer be able to bolster the economy unless we act in unison.

Instead of taking sides politically, we, the working Middle Class, need to wield our power…you know, that 90% potential voting influence that says, “Now you listen to us."  I think that's what the underpinning of this campaign has been about whether we like hand we have been dealt in terms of candidates or not. Let us not turn a deaf ear to the voices of our Party...the Middle Class.