On Aug. 19, 1977, Time magazine published a cover story, “The American Underclass.” People in this group came from “all races and live in many places,” but it mostly consisted of poor “urban blacks.” This minority of “people who are seen to be stuck more or less permanently at the bottom, removed from the American dream” significantly produced juvenile delinquents who seemingly committed most of the crimes. Many in this underclass did not themselves engage in any criminal activity; however, they did not feel any loyalty to the “rules of the game” and thus had a non-interventionist attitude toward youth crimes. They had been ignored by the rich and middle class, and even by some economically successful Blacks. The stress, despair and dismal job prospects felt by this underclass of Americans was especially disappointing since the economy, after the recession of 1973-75, was going through a strong economic recovery.

Currently, even though the economic conditions in the country have significantly improved and the economy is in a boom cycle after the COVID crisis, the resentment with economic conditions and against politicians, policymakers and elites has grown among working-class Americans. They feel deprived of their rightful share of the economic boom and resentful of globalization and technological change. Stress, depression and degradation of trust have taken over the psyche of a large group of working-class people. Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution calls these Americans “Forgotten Americans” and contends that, “The country is not just divided economically, it is divided culturally and politically as well.” These Americans have lost trust in economic and political institutions, and therefore a divided country is unable to respond to economic, social and political reforms for the common good.

It seems that we are seeing the emergence of a subclass of non-college-educated working Americans and some others such as the poor and homeless. All do not fit the notion of underclass as discussed in Time, because most are non-college-educated, working-class people who are not necessarily economically deprived. However, they feel threatened by degradation by elites of the value of work they do. Over at least a decade, this subclass of people feel that they are not appreciated and respected by elites, such as college-educated professionals, entrepreneurs, business executives, bureaucrats and political elites, and social and economic institutions. Professor Michael Sandel, in his book “The Tyranny of Merit,” labels such elites as part of the meritocracy. He states, “The constant call for working people to improve their condition by getting a college degree, however well intentioned, eventually valorizes credentialism and undermines social recognition and esteem for those who lack the credentials the system rewards.”

This attitude of elites has led to resentment, stress, despair and suicides, especially among many white working-class Americans. Most elites claim that in market capitalism working-class people are responsible for their current economic status, given the choices and efforts they have made. Professor Sandel reports the finding of a study by professors Ann Case and Angus Deaton (Nobel laureate) about the epidemic of suicide among this subclass of Americans. Case and Deaton use the term “death and despair” felt primarily by people who are mostly middle-age whites and not college educated.

Technology and globalization have not fully rewarded working-class Americans as they have the elites, despite productivity gains and economic growth. Loss of strong trade unions has deprived the bargaining power of workers in businesses, and political lobbyists, backed by elites, have thwarted attempts by politicians and policymakers to implement policies for the benefit of this subclass. This has led to frustration and lack of trust toward elites and politicians, thus resulting in a political and social divide.

The “land of opportunity” is not only affecting the recognition of value of work, social recognition and respect for working-class Americans, it has also affected intergenerational economic mobility. Based on extensive research, using millions of income records, professors R. Chetty, N. Hendren, P. Kline and E. Saez report the average rank of children’s income as adults for each percentile of parent’s income. They find that “children growing up in the high-income families rank, on average, 34 percentiles higher than children growing up in the poorest families.” In addition, high-income families’ children born in 1984 “were 74.5 percentage points more likely to attend college than those from the lowest-income families.” Thus, the land of opportunity has not significantly benefited poor children. Intergenerational mobility is also “significantly lower in the United States than most other developed countries.”

A substantial increase in income inequality has undermined income and social mobility. Therefore, Chetty, et al., argue that the effects “of ‘birth lottery’ … are larger today than in the past.” The economic, social and political divide threatens democracy and collective decision making for the common good of all Americans and the country.

Vijay Mathur is former chair and professor in the Economics Department and now professor emeritus at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio. He resides in Ogden.

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