Occupy protests bring middle class plight to headlines, Holy Family experts say

   The Occupy Wall Street protests that have spread to cities and towns across the nation are symptoms of the long-term economic decline the middle class has faced, experts say.

   Central to the issue is middle class frustration over limited job growth, stagnant pay increases, and increased costs of living, juxtaposed with reports of very high executive compensation, and simmering anger over government bailout of the banks in 2008 after the mortgage crisis.

   "Income inequality has indeed been a huge problem. They're saying this is the highest income disparity since the 1920s. People are frustrated," said Stephen E. Medvec, Ph.D., political science professor at Holy Family University.

   Falling and stagnant incomes coupled with increased costs of living make the American dream hard to maintain or reach. 

   "We are watching, before our eyes, the decline of the middle class in the United States," Medvec said. "The standard of living has declined. This is why people are frustrated. We are watching the decline of the middle class." 

   People feel powerless to change their circumstances, and those in power don't seem to be accountable, he said. 

   "We elected a president. We want him to do certain things, but he's blocked by Congress and potentially the Supreme Court, so where's the accountability here?" Medvec said. "The American electorate - be it from the right or the left - is very frustrated with the situation in the United States, basically since the bank bailouts."

   The tagline adopted by Occupy protesters states "We are the 99 percent" _ a reference to the wealth held by the banking, insurance, and mortgage industries in comparison to the middle class (http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com).

   Similarly, a study by the Economic Research Institute, a non-profit think tank, showed that between 1979 and 2007 the richest 10 percent in the nation accounted for 91 percent of average income growth, while middle class income fell (http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org).

   "Certainly, if you look at the distribution of income, middle income levels of earnings have not gone up as they have for the very wealthy in the United States, and the issue of what's just is a big issue," said economics expert Jan Warren Duggar, Ph.D., dean of the Holy Family School of Business Administration.

   "I think we all recognize the need for a fair wage, a safety net for people who are out of work or have other problems. So where do we go from there?" he said.

   Part of the concern is whether elected officials are doing enough to protect the middle class and whether corporations are being good citizens and taking proper care of employees, Duggar said.

   "Those issues are particularly aggravated by the recession, the loss of jobs, the loss of income, opportunities drying up for people," Duggar said. "It's going to take a bold plan to correct those inequities."