Imagine a child living in a house with no power for lights, heat, or cooking, embarrassed to invite friends over to play or study, and not understanding what happened to a once-normal life. This is a story many middle-class families in the United States think could happen only to someone else, never to them. However, an HBO documentary entitledAmerican Wintersuggests the opposite is true; many seemingly solid middle-class families can slip all too easily into the lower class, into poverty, in houses that are dark with empty refrigerators.

The film, set in Portland, Oregon, tells the story of an economic tragedy. Families that were once financially stable are now barely keeping their heads above water. A needed job was outsourced or given to an independent contractor, or a raise failed to come even as necessities kept getting more expensive. The families had to try to pay for healthcare or make a mortgage payment when their bank account was overdrawn. Once-proud middle-class workers talk about the shame of having to ask friends for help or turn to public assistance as a last resort. The fall of the U.S. middle class is more than a line on an economic chart; it is a cold reality for many families who never saw it coming.

Critical Thinking

• Does a company have an ethical duty to find a balance between remaining profitable and paying all workers a decent living wage?
  • Why or why not?
  • Who decides what constitutes a fair wage?
• How would you explain to a board of directors your decision to pay entry-level workers a higher wage than required by law?

Income ($) 7,000,000 6,000,000 5,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 Average U.S. Income, 2015 2,000,000 1,000,000 0 Bottom 90% Top 10% Top 5% Earners Top 1% Top 0.1% Source: Saez, Emmanuel. "Income and Wealth Inequality: Evidence and Policy Implications." Contemporary Economic Policy 35, no. 1 (Jan 2017): 7-25.