A Strong Middle Class Blog

Hello, and Welcome to the Middle Class Task Force Blog. My name is Jared Bernstein, and I am the Executive Director of the task force and Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to the Vice President.

Thank you all so much for the outpouring of ideas for the task force that we have seen since our launch last week. In just eleven days, we have received over 34,700 messages. Please keep these messages coming, as the strength of the taskforce comes from all working together to build a strong middle class.  After reviewing thousands of messages, I have pulled some that reflect common themes I’ve seen throughout the submissions.

First and foremost, many people like Ray from Stillwell, KS wrote in asking us to "Please define 'middle class.' Who is it?" Ray, that is a great question, and thanks for keeping us on point here at the taskforce. I think it’s important for us to use a broad definition of "middle class" that encompasses the various levels of middle class. The Census Bureau tells us that the median household income—the income of the household smack in the middle of the income scale—is about $50,000, so that’s certainly got to be considered a middle-class income. But a more comprehensive definition must go a lot further. My boss, the Vice President, often describes the "middle class" as any family that can’t afford to miss more than two or three paychecks without financial difficulty. Given job market turmoil, that’s an awfully timely way to think about the question. It used to be that the middle class was able to achieve the American dream of owning a decent home in a safe neighborhood with a good public school, having access to affordable health care, saving for college and retirement, and enjoying the occasional meal out, movie, and vacation. The problem is that many middle class families are no longer able to achieve this dream. The task force will focus on making the American dream accessible again to the middle class.

Syed from Fullerton, CA wrote "My idea relates to 21st century infrastructure building…[H]ere in Los Angeles, we have a broken public transport system, clogged highways and it is only going to get worse. We need futuristic ideas to deal with this. I believe this will fall into 21st century infrastructure building and create jobs."

Syed, I think that’s a great idea. I agree that investing in infrastructure is a key part of creating jobs, supporting the middle class and growing our economy. The first step in all this is passing the President’s Recovery Act. In it, over $100 billion dollars is dedicated to infrastructure projects -- many of which are ready to go right now. It’s the money we need to fix our roads, our bridges, our water systems -- and meet our infrastructure needs we have for the future. In addition, in the year head, the Taskforce will be looking beyond the President’s Recovery Act, for new and innovative ways to spur investment in infrastructure to ensure we have the operating systems we need for this 21st Century. But as John from Milwaukee, WI pointed out, "Not all jobs are good jobs. Many jobs created in the last 10 years have low wages with few benefits. Instead of rebuilding the middle class, these jobs have created a huge number of poor workers in our country." That’s why John, the task force is going to focus on making sure that the jobs we develop here in America are good jobs, and by that I mean jobs with good benefits, strong wages, access to healthcare, paid sick days and allow for some control over one’s schedule.

And of course, many other initiatives of the Obama administration are relevant here too, such as health care reform. To achieve broader coverage and lower costs is both essential public policy and would represent a real gain for middle-class families.

Folks also raised great points about many other issues including college affordability, tax credits, childcare and many other areas. I’m going to continue to blog about those issues and others, and I hope this is just the beginning of a great conversation. Please continue to visit www.astrongmiddleclass.gov and share your ideas, thoughts and comments.

USA Today
Time to put middle class front and center
By Vice President Joe Biden
January 30, 2009

For years, we had a White House that failed to put the middle class front and center in its economic policies.

President Barack Obama has made it clear that is going to change. And it's why he's asked me to lead a task force on the middle class.

America's middle class is hurting. Trillions of dollars in home equity and retirement savings and college savings are gone. And every day, more and more Americans are losing their jobs.

For the backbone of America, it's insult on top of injury. Over the course of America's last economic expansion, the middle class participated in very few of the benefits. But now in the midst of this historic economic downturn, the middle class sure is participating in all of the pain. Something is seriously wrong when the economic engine of this nation - the great middle class - is treated this way.

President Obama and I are determined to change this. Quite simply, a strong middle class equals a strong America. We can't have one without the other

Right now, our most urgent task is to stabilize our economy and put it back on track. That is what our economic recovery package moving through the Congress is all about. We need to make these critical investments to jumpstart our economy.

On top of this urgent task, though, we have an important long-term task as well. Once this economy starts growing again, we need to make sure the benefits of that growth reach the people responsible for it. We can't stand by and watch as that narrow sliver of the top of the income scale wins a bigger piece of the pie - while everyone else gets a smaller and smaller slice.

One of the things that makes this task force distinctive is it brings together - in one place - those agencies that have the most impact on the well-being of the middle class in our country. We'll be looking at everything from access to college and training with the Department of Education, to business development with the Department of Commerce, to child care reform with Health and Human Services, to labor law with the Department of Labor. With this task force, we'll have a single, high-visibility group with one goal: To raise the living standards of middle-class families.

Over the upcoming months, we will focus on answering those concerns that matter most to families. What can we do to make retirement more secure? How can we make child and elder care more affordable? How do we improve workplace safety? How are we going to get the cost of college within reach? What can we do to help weary parents juggle work and family? And, above all else, what are the jobs of the future? Here, we'll be looking at green jobs, better-paying jobs, better-quality jobs.

At the end of the day, it will be our responsibility to offer clear, specific steps we can take to meet these concerns and others.

Unlike some previous government task forces, our taskforce will operate in a fully transparent manner. We will consult openly and publicly with outside groups who have thought long and hard about these issues and can help us bring the most far-reaching and imaginative solutions to these problems. All the materials from our meetings, and any report we produce, will be up on our public website. None of this will happen behind closed doors.

In government, as in life, you need clear goals to succeed. In the Obama/Biden administration, we have set a very clear goal: Our administration will have succeeded if the middle class once again starts to share in the economic success of this nation.