Shrunken middle class

[Bucky]

1. By what stretch of the imagination $35k/yr a middle class salary?

At less than $3000/month gross, that's probably less than $2000/month take home pay. If it's a single parent with a couple of kids, and you factor in health insurance, car insurance, rent or housing for a three bedroom apartment that is nearly half of monthly income, and enough food to eat at home, but never go out to eat... this one income is NOT enough to putanything away for retirement.

That's not middle class. That's subsistence.

No room for clothing in that budget, by the way, so I hope it's a family of nudists. Ah, the American dream.