{"id":132048,"date":"2024-10-18T08:59:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T12:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=132048"},"modified":"2024-10-18T18:34:19","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T22:34:19","slug":"bloomberg-the-math-says-its-getting-harder-to-break-into-the-american-middle-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=132048","title":{"rendered":"(Bloomberg) The Math Says It\u2019s Getting Harder to Break Into the American Middle Class"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As US Election Day approaches, inflation is largely tamed and wage gains have lifted incomes. Yet the economy remains the most pressing issue<\/a> in the presidential race for one big reason: Increasingly, for many Americans, the long-standing building blocks of middle-class life feel frustratingly unattainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The standard 20% down payment on a median-priced home now costs 83% of a year\u2019s income for the typical family ready to buy a home, up from 65% on the eve of the 2016 election, according to Bloomberg calculations. Buying a new car takes almost two extra weeks of work for the median household compared to eight years ago. Child care then cost the same family about a quarter of its weekly income. Now it swallows up more than a third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while the cost of attending college has gone down<\/a> as a share of income in recent years, a median household can expect to pay 75% of its annual income for a private college and more than third for a public in-state university. That is up significantly from when many of today\u2019s parents went to college themselves \u2014 and, in turn, can make the price tag look unnerving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p><\/p>

The Math Says It\u2019s Getting Harder to Break Into the American Middle Class

Some major milestones are becoming frustratingly unattainable for many families – Bloomberg https:\/\/t.co\/ncqA4FJ6g4<\/a>?<\/p>— Jose A. Briones (@Brioneja) October 18, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>