The middle class has long been considered the American dream and is "at the heart of the economic platforms of many presidential candidates ahead of the 2016 election." 

"Policymakers are engaged in debates about the need to raise the floor on wages and on how best to curb rising income inequality," Pew researchers Rakesh Kochhar and Richard Fry said in the report. "Meanwhile, President Barack Obama uses the term 'middle-class economics' to describe his economic agenda. And a flurry of new research points to the potential of a larger middle class to provide the economic boost sought by many advanced economies."

DYI