NYDailyNews.com
The middle class in America may soon have no pulse at all. Although the U.S. once had the biggest, richest middle class ever, fundamental changes in how giant corporations hire workers mean that the rich are not only getting richer, but everyone else is having to scrimp, save and compete with Third World laborers for work, according to The Business Insider as reported on Yahoo.com.
The “globalism” and “free trade” touted by business leaders and politicians actually turned out to be bad news for middle-class American workers. Now, workers in the U.S. find their jobs are going to people in poor countries who are willing to work 12-hour days for a dollar an hour. With the idea of hiring Third World help rather than U.S. citizens, giant corporations are saying sayonara to the U.S. at a startlingly speedy rate. And with no government penalties imposed if they jump ship, the incentive to stick around simply isn’t there, according to The Business Insider.
As proof of just how tough it is out there, consider these sobering stats:
- Some 83% of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1% of the people.
- Some 61% of Americans “always or usually” live paycheck to paycheck, up from 49% just two years ago.
- Some 36% of Americans say they aren’t contributing to their retirement savings, and 24% say they’ve delayed their planned retirement age in the past year.
For the first time ever in the history of this country, banks own a greater share of the residential housing network in America than all individual Americans combined.
Wondering just how rich the rich really are?
Average Wall Street bonuses for last year were up 17% from a year earlier, and the bottom half of all income earners in the country now collectively own under 1% of the nation’s wealth.
Among those out of work and looking for work, the news is dismal: It now takes an average of 35.2 weeks to find a job, and an ever larger percentage of Americans are finding work at low-paying service and retail jobs. Count about six unemployed Americans for each new job that opens up in the U.S. The simple truth: There just aren’t enough jobs to go around anymore.
Other than their work, Americans actually don’t have all that much to offer in the marketplace. U.S. workers are expensive to hire, they need benefits and the government continues to pass more rules and regulations that make conducting business here ever more onerous.
How are former middle-class workers getting by? For the first time in the history of this country, more than 40% of Americans are getting food stamps. And 21% of all children in America are living below the poverty line this year – the highest rate in two decades.
