How the American middle class is really doing: What the data tell us

How is the middle class faring? In a time of political transition, a global pandemic, and mass unemployment, this question has never been more important. On Thursday, February 4, the Future of the Middle Class Initiative at Brookings launched the Brookings Middle Class Monitor to answer this question with 12 metrics from five key domains for a good quality of life: money, time, relationships, health, and respect. Read more about the data and results here. 

To coincide with this launch, the Initiative asked six experts to share what they think are the biggest issues affecting the middle class across three of those five domains: money, relationships, and health. The experts discussed middle-class incomes, explore the health of the middle class, and examine the role of family in upward mobility. Annie Lowrey from The Atlantic moderated the three sessions. Their different perspectives highlighted the many struggles — and potential solutions — that face Americans across the country today. 

Check out more work in this space: Hear the voices of middle-class Americans on these questions, request a free hard copy of our proposed reforms, and watch the first event in the series, “Reframing the narrative of the middle class: Real voices pre- and post-pandemic.”

Viewers submitted questions to events@brookings.edu or via Twitter using #MiddleClassMonitor.