When was the term middle class first used?
The term "middle class" is first attested in James Bradshaw's 1745 pamphlet Scheme to prevent running Irish Wools to France. An earlier phrase used in early modern Europe was "the middling sort."
Questions about Middle class
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How does the OECD define the middle class?
The OECD defines the middle class as households with income between 75% and 200% of the median national income in their country.
How big is China's middle class?
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, by 2013 approximately 420 million people, or 31% of the Chinese population, qualified as middle class. Between 1990 and 2005, that share grew from 15% to 62% of the population.
What did Barbara Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich mean by the professional-managerial class?
In 1977, the Ehrenreichs defined the professional-managerial class as salaried mental workers who do not own the means of production and whose primary function is the reproduction of capitalist culture and class relations. Example occupations include academics, engineers, accountants, social workers, nurses, and middle-level administrators.
What is the size of the global middle class according to the OECD?
A 2010 OECD working paper estimated 1.8 billion people belonged to the global middle class. Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report 2014 put the figure at one billion adults, defined by wealth between $10,000 and $100,000.
What is happening to the millennial middle class in the Western world?
An April 2019 OECD report concluded that the millennial generation is being pushed out of the middle class throughout the Western world.