The Recovery Squeezes the Middle Class

As the economy slowly makes its way back, the middle class is being left behind

Alex, Tom, and Carrie Ray: Eighteen-year-old Alex put off plans to enroll in a four-year college this fall. Instead, he'll attend a local community college for a year, saving $20,000. His father, Tom, an information-technology project manager who only recently regained wages his employer cut during the downturn, praised his son's decision as "very mature."Photograph by Andrew Spear for Bloomberg Businessweek

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By Mike Dorning

May 4, 2012 at 2:05 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

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This article is part of the May 7, 2012 issue of businessweek.

In an election that’s supposed to be all about reviving the economy and creating opportunities for the still-lagging middle class, the leading presidential candidates have been short on specifics. Barack Obama still points to the mess he inherited from his predecessor and speaks broadly about retraining and shoring up U.S. manufacturing. Mitt Romney offers a familiar Republican recipe of tax cuts for “job creators.” Missing from the conversation is a possibility neither side will address head on: What if the economy comes back but leaves millions of middle-class Americans behind?

The Recovery Squeezes the Middle Class — Since the recession began, says Anne Dunbar, co-owner of a funeral home in a Dayton suburb, 15 to 20 families a year have asked that newspaper obituaries include a plea for contributions to help defray funeral expenses.Photograph by Andrew Spear