The middle-class New Deal restoring upward mobility and the American dream A. Mechele Dickerson

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dickerson, Mechele (Arletrice Mechele), 1962- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Middle class--United States--History.

Middle class.

Middle class--History.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California University of California Press [2026]

Summary:

"An expansive policy blueprint for meaningfully expanding the middle class for the first time in a century, the US middle class was a product of state and federal policies, enacted in the wake of the Great Depression. But since the 1980s, lawmakers have undermined what they once built, shredding the social safety net and instituting laws that virtually guarantee downward mobility for all but the most privileged. How can we restore what has been lost? Rigorous and highly readable, The Middle-Class New Deal breaks down the policies that have decimated working families and proposes reforms to reverse this trend. As Mechele Dickerson shows, part of the problem is that politicians disingenuously conflate the middle class with the 'White lower rich.' Such propaganda hides how state and federal lawmakers consistently favor education, labor, housing, and consumer-credit laws that erode the bank accounts of lower- and middle-income people--especially those who are not White and don't have college degrees. Weaving together the latest research with the personal stories of Americans struggling to make ends meet, Dickerson provides a clarion call for political leaders to enact a bold agenda like the one that created the middle class almost a century ago"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Prologue : the struggling middle class

The birth of America's middle class

Educating LMI children

Educating LMI adults

Finding a (good) job

Finding affordable housing

Drowning in debt

Trying to save

The middle-class New Deal

Epilogue : saving the American Dream

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on February 03, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Dickerson, Mechele 1962- Middle-class New Deal

Print version:

ISBN:

9780520423404

0520423402

OCLC:

1528574287

Publisher Number:

CIPO000314358

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license