Why the middle class takes center stage in this (and all) presidential elections     

At the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, we fight for a world free from racism and poverty. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, this campaign season the candidates have overlooked low-income communities, both on the stump and the debate stage. Instead, like so many previous election cycles, the Republican and Democratic tickets focus their attention on the needs of the middle class. 

In light of economic trends, it’s increasingly difficult to uphold the bootstraps myth that says hard work alone earns you a ticket to the American dream. According to the Pew Research Center, the middle class has shrunk by 10 percent since 1970, but its share of total U.S. wealth has fallen from 62 percent in 1970 down to 43 percent in 2022.

This raises the question of why these narratives remain ingrained in our politics. The answer lies, in part, on voting habits. In the 2022 midterm elections, 33 percent of eligible voters with a family income below $20,000 voted, compared to 67 percent of eligible voters with a family income exceeding $100,000. Higher income voters don’t only show up to the polls; they vote with their pocketbook by donating to campaigns.

There are other, deeper reasons why politicians cling to the myth of the middle class. Addressing poverty forces the country to grapple with the ways in which governmental support of the middle and upper middle classes, as well as wealthy and corporate interests, has resulted in deepening racial and economic inequality. Tax cuts in the form of mortgage interest deductions, college savings accounts, and wealth transfers are public dollars that redistribute wealth upward — money that could otherwise fund poverty reduction efforts and universal programs.

One of the many things the pandemic revealed about racism in this country is the persistence of redlining. The legacy of segregation has made it nearly impossible for Black families to build wealth through home ownership — the middle class’s traditional source of wealth accumulation. Meanwhile, the government still hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour since 2009 — which is not a livable wage in any state — and the U.S. remains the only rich country in the world to not have universal health care.

“There are still many Americans who think poverty is a personal failure. We know that’s a false narrative that reinforces the status quo,” said Audra Wilson, president and CEO of the Shriver Center. “There are now 8.4 million Americans who work more than one job just to make ends meet. Their struggles are a direct result of our policy choices. It’s time to make better choices.”

These structural inequities affect all aspects of people’s lives, from where they live and what jobs they have, to their voting patterns. Instead of blaming low-income communities for low voter turnout, let’s examine the barriers they face. With the right wing’s assault on voting rights, Black communities struggle with strict voter ID laws, which hamper turnout. There are also fewer polling places in Black neighborhoods, resulting in longer lines to cast a ballot. Some groups face mobility issues, due to a lack of transportation or health conditions, all factors tied to poverty. For others, voting isn’t a top concern because they’re worried about their next paycheck or how to feed their family.

To increase voter turnout among the country’s forgotten communities, politicians would have to offer something affirmative to vote for and address decades of failed policy. While it’s exceedingly difficult to apply for public benefits, for example, it’s remarkably easy to become ensnared in the criminal legal system, especially if you live in over-policed neighborhoods of color. In rural areas, the government often fails to provide basic services like clean water and access to high-speed internet. For residents of the Rust Belt, former president Bill Clinton’s promise to train residents for jobs in the new economy never materialized, leading to further depopulation and a growing opioid epidemic.

It’s not just impoverished communities either. Government trust is low across the board. According to a Pew Research study from 2023, only four percent of Americans believe the political system works “very well,” whereas 63 percent report having very little confidence in the future of the U.S. political system. To protect the legitimacy of our democracy, it’s more important than ever to bring working class and lower-income communities into the political system.

According to Rev. William J. Barber II, the founder of The Poor People’s Campaign, strengthening our democracy starts with forcing politicians to reckon with the needs of low-income communities. Instead of shaming people who don’t show up to the polls, he wants to organize the 85 million eligible low-income voters as a multiracial voting bloc to fight for shared interests, like raising the federal minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, and access to affordable public housing.

The labor movement, whose legitimacy has been tainted by a legacy of racial exclusion, has been revitalized by leaders like the United Auto Workers’ Shawn Fain, who has successfully unionized many factories in the traditionally labor-resistant South. He has called for a general strike in 2028, which would be a show of force for the labor movement and a way to press its demands for better wages and worker protections. In August, he released a video with a powerful message about our politics:

“They divide us by race. They divide us by gender, by who we love, or where we were born. That’s the game of the wealthy: divide and conquer…There is only one answer to the threat we face as a nation. The answer is solidarity.” 

It may seem like the distant past, but racial justice and poverty were central political issues just a few years ago. We saw child poverty nearly cut in half with the expansion of the child tax credit, and issues like police reform and Medicare for All at the forefront of the Democratic primary.

It’s going to take narrative change and political mobilization to regain and build on that momentum. Matthew Desmond, author of Poverty, By America, and the keynote speaker at the Shriver Center’s 2024 Poverty Summit, argues that we need to frame poverty as a national shame. As Americans, we should be outraged that the U.S. has more income inequality than any other wealthy, industrialized nation. Desmond urges advocates and outraged citizens to think like abolitionists and impress upon the country that it’s a sin to tolerate poverty. As difficult it sounds, ending poverty is ultimately a policy choice. We already know that measures like the child tax credit and progressive taxation can lift all boats. As we head toward Election Day, we must remember that when we center poverty in our politics, we all win.

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Make sure to cast your ballot by Tuesday, November 5. The presidential campaign may dominate the headlines and our headspace, but there are a host of local elections and issues on the ballot this year. To find out where your local candidates stand on issues affecting poverty and racism, check out ballotready.org, a non-partisan voting source.