I Asked ChatGPT To Explain Why the Middle Class Is Shrinking: Here’s What It Said
Written by
Laura Beck
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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The middle class feels like it’s disappearing, so I asked ChatGPT to explain what’s actually happening. The AI came back with data, reasons and context that made the situation clearer and more depressing.
Here’s what I learned about why fewer Americans can afford a middle-class lifestyle anymore.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
ChatGPT started with the basics. In 1971, about 61% of American adults lived in middle-income households. By 2021, that number had dropped to 50%. That’s a massive shift in just 50 years.
But the shrinking numbers only tell part of the story. The middle class is also getting economically weaker. In 1970, middle-income households controlled about 62% of all household income in America. By 2020, that share had fallen to just 42%.
So not only are fewer people in the middle class, but the people who are still there have less economic power than previous generations did.
Wages Haven’t Kept Up
ChatGPT explained that stagnant wages are a huge part of the problem. Between 1979 and 2012, the top 20% of earners saw their average income grow by about 42.6%. The middle 60%? Their income only grew by 9.5%.
Meanwhile, the costs of housing, education, healthcare and transportation kept climbing. Even if your paycheck stayed steady in dollar terms, you could afford less of what defines a middle-class life.
The math is simple and brutal. When incomes barely budge but costs keep rising, people slip out of the middle class whether they want to or not.
The Economy Changed Under Everyone’s Feet
ChatGPT laid out how structural shifts in the economy gutted middle-class job opportunities. Globalization meant companies could outsource manufacturing jobs that used to pay well. Automation eliminated routine work that once provided stable incomes.
The jobs that disappeared were exactly the ones that built the middle class. You could graduate high school, work in a factory or office doing predictable tasks and earn enough to buy a house and raise a family. Those pathways closed.
Now you need higher skills and usually higher education to reach the middle class. If you don’t have those credentials, your options narrow fast.
ChatGPT also pointed to declining union power. Historically, unions helped secure middle-class wages and benefits through collective bargaining. As union membership fell, workers lost that leverage.
Housing Costs Are Crushing People
The AI emphasized how rising costs for major life investments squeeze the middle class. Housing, higher education and healthcare are supposed to be part of middle-class stability. They help you build wealth and create opportunities.
But when those costs grow faster than incomes, they become barriers instead of building blocks. Many middle-income households now spend huge chunks of their income on rent or mortgages, leaving less for savings, retirement or emergencies.
You can have a decent income and still struggle to afford what previous generations considered a normal middle-class life.
The Middle Gets Hollowed Out
ChatGPT explained that income inequality creates a polarization effect. The rich get richer much faster. Some people at the bottom stay stuck or fall further behind. The middle gets squeezed from both directions.
Some households move up into higher income brackets, but many more get pushed down. The result is fewer people in that comfortable middle band where life feels stable and secure.
The International Monetary Fund warned that this “hollowing out” of the middle class can hurt overall economic growth. A strong middle class drives consumption and stability. When it shrinks, the whole economy becomes more vulnerable.
Why It Matters Beyond Economics
ChatGPT wrapped up by pointing out the broader consequences. When large numbers of people feel stuck or like they’re slipping backward, it breeds anxiety and erodes trust. Political polarization increases. Social cohesion weakens.
For individuals, it means the margin for error keeps shrinking. Maintaining what used to be a normal middle-class lifestyle — owning a home, saving for retirement, sending kids to college — becomes harder every year.
The middle class isn’t shrinking because people are lazy or making bad choices. It’s shrinking because the economic structure changed in ways that make it harder to reach and stay in the middle, even when you’re doing everything right.
ChatGPT’s analysis made one thing clear: This isn’t a temporary problem that will fix itself. The forces pushing the middle class down are structural and persistent. Understanding why it’s happening is the first step, but fixing it requires addressing wages, costs, economic opportunity and wealth distribution all at once.
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