WASHINGTON — More and more middle-class Americans say they aren’t better off than they were five years ago, reflecting economic pressures amid growing personal debt, a study released Wednesday found.
Their short-term assessment of personal progress, according to the study, is the worst it’s been in nearly half a century.
The survey by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based organization, paints a mixed picture for the 53 percent of adults in the country who define themselves as “middle class,” with household incomes ranging from below $40,000 to more than $100,000.
It found that a majority of all Americans said they haven’t progressed in the past five years. Twenty-five percent said their economic situation had not improved, while 31 percent said they had fallen backward. Those numbers together are the highest since the survey question was first asked in 1964. Among the middle class, 54 percent said they had made no progress (26 percent) or fallen back (28 percent).
Asked about their financial experiences in the past year, 53 percent of middle-class people said they had to cut spending because money was tight. Nearly one in five, or 18 percent, said they had trouble getting or paying for medical care, while 10 percent reported they had been laid off or otherwise lost their jobs.
Looking ahead to the coming year, half of the middle class surveyed said they expected to have to cut more spending. Among those employed, 25 percent expressed worries they would be laid off, their job would be outsourced or their employer would relocate in the coming year, while 26 percent were concerned that they would see cuts in salary or health benefits.
The Pew poll involved telephone interviews with 2,413 adults. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
