Well, the middle class is officially dead. I've said it once, and I'll say it again,

yes, the middle class has officially died. The last several years have presented hard economic

times for the American people with high inflation, elevated housing costs, the rising price of,

well, just about everything.

I can't, actually, I can't think of something that hasn't risen in price.

At one point, $100,000 salary was healthy middle class or even upper middle class.

That was income in the United States that really could change a family, right?

That was middle class, but everything has changed. I mean, in 1980s, that was my family. I think my dad made in like

the 70, 80,000 range. My mom made about maybe half of that, I think. And they both worked,

but we had a middle class upbringing, and that has totally changed.

It's no secret the middle class is shrinking into oblivion.

1971, 61% of households were considered middle class.

2021, only 50% of households are in the middle class.

This is according to data from the Pew Research Center.

In their analysis, they found that widening of the

income gap and the shrinking of the middle class has led to a steady decrease in the share of

U.S. aggregate income held by middle class households. In 1970, adults in middle income households

account for 62% of aggregate income, a share that fell to 42% in 2020. And data from go banking rates.com

just found that individuals and families need to make 42% more money in 2022 just to stay in the

middle class as compared with 2012. 42%. And we know that things have not gotten better since 2022. They've gotten

much worse. The pandemic has only exacerbated this disparity. Of course, this data varies greatly by

state, okay? But in general, it's safe to say that over the past decade, it costs more to live

...