Who is the middle class?

Zebedee DuBois · 02-09-2001, 08:03 PM

One of the other threads started me thinking "just who is the middle class? I think I'm in it, but maybe I'm deluded.
Here are some statistics to start discussions at an even start. I assume a "traditional" family of four:
The household median income is $42,500 ( [url]http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/income99/incxrace.html[/url] )
The poverty threshold for a family of four (two adults, two kids) is $17,463 ( [url]http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/threshld/thresh00.html[/url] )
The Minimum Wage is $5.15/hr ($10,712/year) ( [url]http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/minwage/main.htm[/url] ) or if both adults work, $21,424. Of course we haven't yet deducted taxes, or paid for babysitting to allow both to work (Even at a $1/kid/hour, that comes to $4,160/yr for 2 kids).

So, what income range do you guys think is middle class?
Please, don't you conservatives and liberals tell me what the other guy thinks, tell me what you think.

What do you think is a "fair" tax rate? None of us wants to pay them, but we do have some overhead to pay for.

02-09-2001, 08:03 PM	Topic Starter
Zebedee DuBois Veteran Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: floating in a tin can Casino cash: $-1694801	One of the other threads started me thinking "just who is the middle class? I think I'm in it, but maybe I'm deluded. Here are some statistics to start discussions at an even start. I assume a "traditional" family of four: The household median income is $42,500 ( [url]http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/income99/incxrace.html[/url] ) The poverty threshold for a family of four (two adults, two kids) is $17,463 ( [url]http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/threshld/thresh00.html[/url] ) The Minimum Wage is $5.15/hr ($10,712/year) ( [url]http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/minwage/main.htm[/url] ) or if both adults work, $21,424. Of course we haven't yet deducted taxes, or paid for babysitting to allow both to work (Even at a $1/kid/hour, that comes to $4,160/yr for 2 kids). So, what income range do you guys think is middle class? Please, don't you conservatives and liberals tell me what the other guy thinks, tell me what you think. What do you think is a "fair" tax rate? None of us wants to pay them, but we do have some overhead to pay for.
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