Question

Why is it difficult to define the middle class

Answer 1

Firstly, it is difficult to maintain the honest categorization of income classes because people consider it quite pompous to report themselves in upper/rich class and similarly very few people like to call themselves as belonging to lower class. Hence naturally most of the demographic is considered in middle class.

According to NY Times journalist David Brooks,

“To be middle class is to have money to spend on non-necessities. But it also involves a shift in values. Middle-class parents have fewer kids but spend more time and money cultivating each one. They often adopt the bourgeois values — emphasizing industry, prudence, ambition, neatness, order, moderation and continual self-improvement. They teach their children to lead different lives from their own, and as Karl Marx was among the first to observe, unleash a relentless spirit of improvement and openness that alters every ancient institution.”

However this single definition which is common among general consensus one definition does little to help the Congress with tax reform.