Between 1979 and 2024, productivity in the U.S. soared by 80.9%, while hourly pay grew by just 29.4%, according to research by the Economic Policy Institute. This trend has often been referred to as ...

You may be doing better than you think.

Geography now defines middle-class life as much as income does.Shrinking middle class numbers reveal deeper shifts in how ...

ChatGPT started with the basics. In 1971, about 61% of American adults lived in middle-income households. By 2021, that number had dropped to 50%. That’s a massive shift in just 50 years. But the ...

The middle class feels like it’s disappearing, so I asked ChatGPT to explain what’s actually happening. The AI came back with data, reasons and context that made the situation clearer and more ...

It's often the assumptions people make about how the Social Security system works rather than the program itself that quietly ...

The comment sections of TikTok’s “middle-class house tours” feature thousands of Americans arguing about what qualifies as middle class in 2025. Viral videos of average homes are sparking comment ...

My July 30, 2025 column for The Dispatch looks at Aristotle’s warnings regarding the political importance of maintaining a large middle class, and discusses their relevance for today. I find a tight ...