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TRIVIA: What do you know about the middle class?

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According to a Pew survey, 50 percent of people surveyed consider themselves "middle-class" in 2010. This is down from 2009 when 53% said they were.

- Courtesy of Flickr user Christopher.D

According to a Pew survey, 50 percent of people surveyed consider themselves "middle-class" in 2010. This is down from 2009 when 53 percent said they were.

- Courtesy of Flickr user Christopher.D

What salary makes you middle class? Click next for the answer.

- Courtesy of Flickr user zzzack

According to the Congressional Research Service, a narrow definition is somewhere between $39,100 and $62,000 for a household.

- Courtesy of Flickr user zzzack

What's happened to middle class wages over the years?

- Courtesy of Flickr user stuartpilbrow

The median family income was on a steady annual increase of 2.4 percent from 1947-1979. But after 1979, wages rose only 0.4 percent a year. The White House Middle Class Task Force annual report explains reasons behind this low growth can be attributed to changing demographics in the US and a rising older and educated workforce.

- Courtesy of Flickr user stuartpilbrow

What causes have led to disappearing middle-class jobs? Click next for the answer?

- Courtesy of Flickr user jamesjyu

Thanks to the advancements in technology, production has gotten more efficient. Also, improvements in technology and lower wages outside the US have increased globalization which hasn't helped domestic unions.

- Courtesy of Flickr user jamesjyu

Why is it hard to maintain a middle class lifestyle? Click next for the answer.

- Courtesy of Flickr user rexb

The White House Middle Class Task Force says the rising costs in healthcare, education, and housing doesn't correspond with household salaries which make it hard to maintain a middle-class lifestyle.

- Courtesy of Flickr user rexb
Marketplace for Monday, October 25, 2010

Sometimes it's hard for economists to put definitive lines on who qualifies as being part of the middle class. However, reports by The White House Middle Class Task Force, the Pew Research Center, the Center for American Progress, and The Brooking Institute have tried to clear up some confusion.

In this photo slideshow, we highlight some of the lesser-known facts about what makes some of us middle class.

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