Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America

by Alissa Quart

the problem of not being able to afford to live in America can’t be cured by self-help mantras. It can’t be mended simply by creating a résumé that utilizes several colors of printer ink or a regimen of cleansing green juices. The problem is systemic. Squeezed is the story of this psychological and socioeconomic predicament. Being squeezed involves one’s finances, one’s social status, and one’s self-image. The middle class I refer to in these pages is a group defined by more than just money: it also leans on credentials, education, aspirations, assets, and, of course, household income. In the United States, the middle class is the group of working people who, according to a May 2016 Pew survey, with a yearly household income for a family of three ranging from $42,000 to $125,000 in 2014, make up 51 percent of U.S. households. Michelle Belmont and her family were in the middle class, and they were squeezed.