There was a recent somewhat similar study on the diminishing middle-class in
Canada, but I can't recall who put it out. Is anyone aware of it or any
others? Perhaps this phenomenon might draw our politicians' attention? 

--------------------------

Findings of the Brookings Institute:

Analysis of 1970 to 2000 decennial census data for families and
neighborhoods in the 100 largest metropolitan areas, and in the cities and
suburbs of 12 selected metropolitan areas, finds that:

    * Middle-income neighborhoods as a proportion of all metropolitan
neighborhoods declined from 58 percent in 1970 to 41 percent in 2000. This
dramatic decline far outpaced the corresponding drop in the proportion of
metropolitan families earning middle incomes.

    * Between 1970 and 2000, lower-income families became more likely to
live in lower-income neighborhoods, and higher-income families in
higher-income neighborhoods. 

    * The proportion of neighborhoods that were middle-income shrank faster
than the proportion of families that were middle-income in each of 12 large
metropolitan areas examined.

    * Only 23 percent of central-city neighborhoods in the 12 large
metropolitan areas had a middle-income profile in 2000, down from 45 percent
in 1970. A majority of families and neighborhoods in these cities had low or
very low incomes relative to their metropolitan area median in 2000.

    * A much larger proportion — 44 percent — of suburban neighborhoods in
the 12 metropolitan areas had a middle-income profile in 2000. Yet this
proportion fell over the 30-year period, too, from 64 percent in 1970,
accompanying a smaller decline in suburban middle-income families. Suburban
middle-income neighborhoods were replaced in roughly equal measure by
low-income and very high-income neighborhoods.

Although middle-income families have declined considerably as a share of the
overall family income distribution, it is noteworthy that middle-class
neighborhoods have disappeared even faster in metropolitan areas, especially
in cities. This trend suggests increased sorting of high- and low-income
families into neighborhoods that reflect their own economic profiles, and
increased vulnerability of middle-class neighborhoods "tipping" towards
higher- or lower-income status. The resulting disparities among
neighborhoods create new challenges for policies to enhance household
mobility, improve the delivery of key public services, and promote
private-sector investment in struggling locales.

--------------------------

Brookings Institute findings:
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060622_middleclass.htm

The full report (PDF):
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060622_middleclass.pdf

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