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New 'middle class security index' report findings to be announced by Demos and Brandeis University

Barriers to long-term stability, numbers of families at risk of falling out of middle class to be discussed

Background:

Publication of a landmark report based on a new Middle Class Security Index developed by the non-partisan public policy center Demos and the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University. Based on government data, "By a Thread: The New Experience of America’s Middle Class" uses the findings of the Index to provide the first comprehensive measurement of economic stability across the American middle class.

This Index measures the financial security of the middle class by rating household stability across five core economic factors: assets, educational achievement, housing costs, budget and healthcare. Based on how a family ranked in each of these factors, they were defined as financially “secure”, “borderline” or “at risk”.

Headline findings of this report reveal:

• The small fraction of the American middle class that has long-term, sustainable economic security;

• The percentage of the middle class that is borderline or at high risk of falling out of the middle class;

• The factors on which America’s middle class are most vulnerable or most secure;

• A glimpse of middle class security by race and age (topic of in-depth future reports);

• The public policy implications and need for long-range solutions that engage both business and labor.

The Middle Class Security Index will be updated and new reports published biennially, supplemented by companion reports and briefing papers on middle-class security by race and age. The report series will also be featured at a series of Congressional briefings, and is made available to all candidates for office, sitting legislators, educators and media.

At Noon on November 28, 2007, a PDF file of the "By a Thread" report will be available for download at www.demos.org and www.iasp.brandeis.edu. Additional research on the middle class and the economy will be made available online following the press conference. Hard copies of the report are available on request.

Press teleconference participants:

• Ron Blackwell, Chief Economist, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO): Discussing the importance of benchmarks to measure household economic security.

• Jeane Pogge, Senior Vice President, Shorebank (The oldest and largest community development bank in the United States.): Discussing the role of business in supporting economic mobility and a strong middle class.

• Thomas Shapiro, report co-author, Director, Institute on Assets and Social Policy and Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy, Brandeis University: Presenting background on the report and discussing the overall implications of its findings.

• Jennifer Wheary, report co-author, Senior Fellow, Economic Opportunity Program, Demos: Offering details on specific results from the Index and a preview of upcoming work.

• Miles Rapoport, President, Demos: Moderator and commenter on near-and-long-term policy implications.

The authors of the report, Thomas Shapiro and Jennifer Wheary, will be available for media interviews on the findings of "By a Thread" immediate following the teleconference, and throughout the coming months. For more information, see contact information above.

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