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Is The Middle Class Shrinking?

Inspiration

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9.28.21 |

Joseph Darby

‍The middle class Kiwi Dream might feel like a moving target. Here’s what you can do about it

The middle class has long held a special place in modern society’s imagination.

Depending on the country, the middle class concept has been loosely termed the “New Zealand Dream”, "American Dream", “Australian Dream”, and so on. It was that picket-fenced promise where, if you worked hard and didn’t spend all your money on pricey lattes (allegedly!), you could buy a comfortable house, raise two or three kids, enjoy a family holiday every year or so, then retire with a decent nest egg. For decades this felt achievable for many millions across both New Zealand and other developed nations.

Now, for many in New Zealand and the Western world, that dream is starting to feel more like a power nap: short, pleasant, but interrupted by an alarm clock of reality.

We often hear terms like the "middle class squeeze" tossed around at barbeques or on the news, usually accompanied by a grim shake of the head. But what does it mean? Are the middle really being crushed, or is this just another case of "back in my day" nostalgia?

The data suggests the middle class is finding itself under immense pressure, and the seams are starting to burst. Let’s take a deeper look and explore what you can do about it.

Is The Middle Class Vanishing?

The "middle class" has traditionally been the economic backbone of Western society. It is the engine room of consumption and the tax base that keeps the lights on. However, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been sounding the alarm for years.

According to their landmark report, Under Pressure: The Squeezed Middle Class, the share of people in middle-income households across OECD countries fell from 64 percent to 61 percent between the mid-1980s and the mid-2010s. While a three percent drop might sound small it represents millions of families slipping out of economic stability. Most concerning, this study was published before the global pandemic, which surely made matters worse!

The issue is not just that the group is shrinking; it is that the cost of admission is skyrocketing. To maintain a "middle-class lifestyle" today requires significantly more financial horsepower than it did thirty years ago, yet the engine (our incomes) has barely been upgraded.

The Scissors Effect: Prices Versus Paydays

Imagine a pair of scissors. The top blade represents the cost of living, particularly housing, education, and healthcare. The bottom blade represents your income. In an ideal world, they move together. In our world, the top blade is opening wider and wider, while the bottom blade is stuck.

In New Zealand, this disconnect is stark. A study by Knowledge Auckland highlighted a terrifying statistic: between 1981 and 2019, median house prices in New Zealand increased almost 18-fold. In the same period, median household incomes increased only 5.4-fold. Even with recent interest rate cuts, and house price cooling, housing costs relative to income remain historically high, with Stats NZ reporting severe pressure on renters and new buyers, and it has been reported the average household still requires nearly a decade to save a deposit, a hurdle which was half as high for previous generations.

Let those numbers sink in.

Housing costs have grown more than three times faster than the wages used to pay for them. This isn't just "inflation"; it is a structural shift in wealth accumulation. It explains why a single income could support a family in a freehold home in 1980, whereas today, two professional incomes often struggle to service a mortgage on a modest townhouse. This is part of the reason why headlines frequently report the numbers of people leaving New Zealand.

Inflation and The Squeezed Middle

The post-pandemic spike in the cost of living (inflation) hit the middle class hardest of all. Think of the economy as a spectrum:

At one end, lower-income households have a taxpayer-funded safety net. While their financial reality can be difficult, social welfare in the form of unemployment benefits and Working for Families are usually indexed to inflation or wages. When costs rise, these payments adjust upward, providing a baseline of protection against inflation. Add to this, New Zealand has one of the highest minimum wages in the world.
At the other end, the wealthy were and are also largely insulated from the cost-of-living crisis. High interest rates, which were increased to fight inflation, tend not to keep them awake at night because they rarely carry significant mortgages on their own homes. In fact, many of New Zealand’s wealthiest individuals are Baby Boomers who benefit from a double layer of security: they are mortgage-free and receive universal NZ Superannuation (which is also indexed annually), regardless of their private wealth. Most people in this category don’t need to work or are retired, so are unbothered by layoffs.
This leaves the middle class who have borne the brunt of the economic storm. This demographic holds the lion's share of New Zealand's household debt. When interest rates experienced their steepest recorded rise (to combat inflation), it wasn't the government or the wealthy writing larger cheques to the banks. It was the middle-class homeowner. With roughly 80 percent of bank lending in New Zealand tied to residential property, the middle class effectively financed the nationwide fight against inflation. This section of society is also where any job cuts will hit hardest. This is probably why one global report specifically identified Millennials, which form much of the middle class, as the "big losers" of recent economic cycles compared to Baby Boomers. This reinforces a generational aspect of the middle-class squeeze.

The Middle-Class Asset Gap

The squeeze is not purely about how much you earn; it is about what you own. This is where the real divide opens up.

In economics, there is a concept made popular by Thomas Piketty: when the return on capital (investments, property, shares) exceeds the rate of economic growth (wages), wealth concentrates at the top. Put simply, people who own things get richer faster than people who work for things.

If your primary income is a salary, you are running on a treadmill. If you own assets, you are riding a bike, and nowadays the bike is electric. The middle class is increasingly defined not by income, but by asset ownership. Those who managed to buy a home ten or more years ago are effectively in a different economic tier than those trying to buy today, even if their salaries are identical.

This leads to a feeling of "treading water”. You might get a three percent raise this year, but if your rent goes up five percent and the share market goes up 10 percent, you are statistically falling behind.

The Working Poor

This is probably why there’s a growing concept of the ‘working poor’. Many of these people are those who may be at the lower end of the middle class.

There is no one accepted definition of the ‘working poor’ though it might broadly include people who are working long hours but being well-taxed on their earnings, paying a further sizeable chunk of their after-tax income in rent or mortgage payments, and seeing the cost of everything they need (food, transport, and so on) rise to the point that they’re struggling to get by. Some in this category might have even seen the value of their home or KiwiSaver Scheme balance rise over the years, but that means little if they feel like they’re battling to make ends meet from month to month!

The Trap of Lifestyle Creep

It would be easy to blame everything on "the economy" and leave it there. But we must look in the mirror, too.

When it comes to a modern lifestyle, the definition of "necessity" has expanded.

Fifty years ago, a middle-class life didn't include two SUVs, international holidays, data plans for every family member, and subscription services for everything from TV to meal kits. This phenomenon is known as "lifestyle creep," where increased income is immediately absorbed by increased spending.

Increasingly, it is common to spend to cope with the stress of the middle class squeeze, buying small luxuries to feel wealthy because the ‘big luxuries’ (like a mortgage-free home) may seem out of reach. This can form a vicious cycle. We finance a lifestyle we can't quite afford to distract ourselves from the fact we can't afford it.

How Can The Middle Class Can Take Back Control?

So, is the middle class doomed? Are we destined to slide into a grim future where we all rent living pods from a mega-corporation?

Not necessarily. But the rules of the game have changed and playing by the old rulebook "go to school, get a job, save a portion of your income" is a guaranteed way to lose.

The antidote to the squeeze is self-reliance and a shift in focus. You cannot control the Reserve Bank's interest rate decisions, and you certainly cannot control the global housing market. You can control how much you invest, where you invest, and why you invest. Here are a couple of tips:

1. Pay Yourself First

This is the golden rule of personal finance. Before you pay the power bill, the landlord, or the barista, pay your future self. Automate a portion of your income into an investment account. Treating savings as a bill that must be paid changes your psychological approach to money.

Read more: Pay yourself first

2. Own Assets, Don't Just Rent Them

You need to move from the "labour" side of the equation to the "capital" side. This doesn't mean you need to buy a farm next week. It means consistently acquiring assets that compound over time. This could include shares, managed funds including KiwiSaver, property, or diverse portfolios of all these assets.

Learn more:

3. Ignore the Joneses

The “Joneses” who you might look at enviously on social media or who live a few doors over and live who a seemingly lavish lifestyle are probably broke. They have a leased Audi and maxed-out credit cards. Trying to keep up with them is the fastest way to the poorhouse. Real wealth is often invisible; it's the money you didn't spend.

Related material:

4. Earn More

It sounds obvious, though it’s often overlooked. The more you earn, the more you can dedicate to investments which will one day fund your financial freedom.

Earning more often comes down to increasing your value in the marketplace through skills, experience, or productivity. People who invest in education, pursue specialised qualifications, or take on higher-responsibility roles usually expand their earning potential over time. Additional income can also come from side work, entrepreneurship, or leveraging assets like investments. While not every path suits every person, the principle is simple: when your expertise or output grows, your opportunities to earn more usually grow with it.

Learn more:

The Bottom Line: The Middle Class Are Shrinking

The middle class in New Zealand and the West is indeed shrinking. It is being squeezed by the pincers of soaring asset and living costs combined with stagnant real (inflation-adjusted) wages. The escalator that may have taken the parents of today’s middle class to prosperity is broken, and we are going to have to walk up the stairs.

It requires more discipline, more financial literacy, and a bit more hustle than it once did. But financial independence is still possible for those who stop waiting for the world to go back to "normal" and start building their own financial freedom.

If you are feeling the squeeze and want to ensure you are on the right side of the wealth divide, it might be time to stop guessing and start executing. Book your complimentary initial consultation with us today to take control of your future.