The Collapse of U.S. Middle Class? Half of U.S. workers earn less than $30,000, 25% have negative net worth

(economiccollapsenews) A lot of Americans believe the American Dream as well as the concept of the middle class has come to an end. The amount of taxes, the erosion of the United States dollar, the rising cost of living and a weak economy are all ingredients for a recipe to the collapse of the middle class.

At the same time, however, if you have $10 in your pocket and zero debt then you’re richer than 25 percent of Americans!

A new report from the Social Security Administration (SSA) discovered that more than half (51 percent) of workers in the U.S. earn less than $30,000. With rents and housing costs reaching all-time highs, it can be pretty tough for a family to live on that amount of money, which is equal to $2,500 per month. Don’t forget about the taxes!

Here are the 2014 figures from the report that was released this week:

– 71 percent of U.S. workers earned less than $50,000.

– 62 percent of U.S. workers earned less than $40,000.

– 51 percent of U.S. workers earned less than $30,000.

– 38 percent of U.S. workers earned less than $20,000.

– 14 percent of U.S. workers earned less than $5,000.

As Michael Snyder of The End of the American Dream opines:

“And of course the numbers above are only for those that are actually working. As I discussed just recently, there are 7.9 million working age Americans that are ‘officially unemployed’ right now and another 94.7 million working age Americans that are considered to be ‘not in the labor force’. When you add those two numbers together, you get a grand total of 102.6 million working age Americans that do not have a job right now.”

It should also be noted that one-quarter of Americans maintain a negative net worth, according to a new report from Credit Suisse.

In its annual Global Wealth Report, released last week, Credit Suisse estimates that half of the world has a net worth of less than $3,210. Unfortunately, a large number of Americans and Europeans can’t even have that because their net worth is negative.

“If you’ve no debts and have $10 in your pocket you have more wealth than 25% of Americans. More than 25% of Americans have collectively that is.”

Although the major headline was that the one percent own half of the nation’s wealth, the real headline should be that you’re richer if you have a few bucks in your pocket and absolutely zero debt! Considering how indebted everybody is, if you’re reading this article then there is a good chance you’re richer than the person next door. (Full Story)