I disagree. First of all I don’t think any organization, including the Census Bereau, Pew, Gallup, et al have some kind of official definition of what “middle class” is. Second, by and large most Americans seem to identify themselves as being Middle class+. I think Middle Class is strongly associated with the American dream, and typically benefits like a vacation once a year, retirement, a home, and sending your kids to College are all mentioned as being a package deal of being Middle class.

I think the biggest 2 things that have happened that requires people to have a lot more money to be part of this “dream” is the complete dissapearance of the Pension and the dramatic increase in the cost of College tuition (in the 60s-90s, sending your kid to College meant supporting them a few more years, tuition wasn’t even really a factor). The Pension being lost is a double hit, because you lost the guaranteed retirement safety net, and you have to now save a huge portion of your own paycheck to make up the difference.

+http://news.gallup.com/poll/212660/middle-class-identificati...