A Third of Americans Now Say They Are in the Lower Classes | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

A Third of Americans Now Say They Are in the Lower Classes | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

According to Pew, 1/3 of Americans now consider themselves part of the lower class, but look at the political and ideological breakdown:

While the share of Republicans who place themselves in the lower class has increased, the GOP is still underrepresented among the lower classes relative to their numbers in the overall population. Overall about 16% of the lower class identifies with the Republican Party, while the GOP makes up about 22% of the population. In contrast, the percentages of the lower class who identify as Democrats and independents mirror their overall proportions in the country as a whole. A third (34%) of the lower class are Democrats and 43% are independents, while nationally a third of adults (33%) say they are Democrats and 38% are independents.
The survey also finds that the proportion of self-described conservatives who are in the lower class also has surged, rising from 19% in 2008 to 32% in the latest Pew Research survey. In contrast, the proportion of moderates increased from 24% to 30%. A third of all liberals (33%) placed themselves in the lower class, while 29% did in 2008, though this change was not statistically significant.
As a result of these shifts, roughly equal shares of conservatives (32%), moderates (30%) and liberals (33%) say they stand on the bottom rungs of the social ladder now

So, clearly the 47% of moochers are across the political and ideological spectrum, contrary to Mitt Romney's suppositions (fantasies?) 

 

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