The future of the middle class

An era of rapid change in the economy and how we work—from automation to the gig economy—is transforming the middle class. As the benefits of our changing economy become less and less evenly distributed, many middle class Americans are feeling left behind. On May 8, the new Future of the Middle Class Initiative at Brookings and the Biden Foundation co-hosted a forum on the future of the middle class, featuring a keynote address by former Vice President Joe Biden.

The first panel—moderated by Camille Busette, director of the Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative at Brookings—discussed the many ways we define “middle class,” and how middle-class challenges are experienced differently across various demographics. The second panel, which was moderated by Ben Harris of the Biden Foundation, detailed barriers to competition in the workforce and identified forward-looking proposals to improve conditions for the American middle class.

You can learn more about the Biden Foundation here, and more about the Biden Forum here. The Biden Forum is the Foundation’s ongoing discussion on policies to advance the middle class.