how much has the middle class shrunk 
various studies have been published on the shrinking middle class results vary depending on the country being analyzed the timeframe being examined and the criteria of the study in 2020 the pew research center claimed that the share of american adults living in middle income households decreased from 61 in 1971 to 51 in 2019 the oecd meanwhile said in 2019 that the share of people in middle income households defined as households earning between 75 and 200 of the median national income across oecd countries fell from 64 in the mid 1980s to 61 in the mid 2010s 76