Essay On Middle Class In America

Middle Class Reliance on the Next U.S. President

Middle class Americans represent more than half of the United States’ population. They are the backbone of U.S. economics, and have been since the very beginning of the country’s history. However, an unstable job market, created by outsourcing, combined with a minimum wage which has not been raised since 1989, is gradually shrinking this economic group. To avoid the extinction of this critical class, the next president of the United States will have to go to extraordinary measures. Without major reformation, the middle class will continue to be absorbed by the lower class, ultimately resulting in the complete loss of one of America’s most important socio-economic bodies.

As the U.S. continues to feel the effects of the 2008 recession, the middle class’s ability to keep their heads above water is faltering. They struggle to feed their families, working constantly just to scrape by each month. Parents are forced to sacrifice time with their children, trading in play dates and family dinners for overtime and second jobs. With affordable child care nearly nonexistent, parents without relatives willing to babysit their children may find their paychecks going directly to

the cost of child care. Government regulated pricing, or even government funded child care facilities could alleviate this burden. The result would be not only a boost in the economy – not having to pay for daycare means parents can spend this money in other ways, such as groceries or gas – but also a boost in the morale of the middle class.
For parents of school-aged children, the struggle does not end. Underfunded public schools not only cause added stress for parents, but continue the cycle of poverty. Without proper education, students find themselves without the tools they need to succeed in a four year college. This leads to lower paying jobs, which do not provide the income college graduates need to pay for their education. With this mindset, many students are opting to cut their learning short by skipping college altogether. This leads to an increase of people entering the workforce; however, without continued job growth, they find themselves unemployed, and without a high level of education. Those lucky enough to find a job lack the qualifications necessary to move ahead in their careers.
While it would not completely solve this problem, raising the minimum wage would make it easier for people who have not had the ability to attend a college facility to earn a living wage.

The current suggestion is a raise to a minimum wage of $15. This, of course, is optimal as it will allow people to work one job, which does not require a college-level education, and still feed their families. In doing this, middle class parents will also have more time with their children, not only lowering their cost of child care, but also allowing them to help their children with schoolwork. This, hopefully, would give children a better shot at getting into college, acquiring a full time job, and ultimately ending the cycle of poverty within their own

families.
A lack of career growth generally means less than satisfactory health care coverage. Often times, the struggle to pay for health care, whether it is a lengthy hospital stay or a pediatric check-up, is far greater than the stress of the illness itself. Co-pays for a simple wellness visit end up being upwards of $35. For an upper class family, this is a drop in the bucket. But for a middle class family, especially one with multiple children, this ends up being incredibly costly. Already living paycheck to paycheck, they are now forced to choose between taking care of their own health or putting food on the table. With universal health care, however, middle class families would be able to take care of their family’s medical needs without worrying about the effect it will have on their ability to provide for their own basic needs.
Government intervention is the only way the middle class can hope to scrape by into the next decade. As is, they cannot hope to continue to survive as their own entity; they will continue to be taken in by the lower class. The United States will be relying heavily on the next president to come to the rescue of the middle class. As discussed, by increasingly adding to the job market and raising the minimum wage, not only will the middle class will benefit, but the economy as well. Government funded child care and universal health care could also aid the middle class. These, among other reforms, are the middle class’s only hope.