The perception that life is not as rich for the middle class as it was in the past is probably in some ways true. I don’t think you are measuring the right things. Instead of measuring percentages of wealth held by classes you should be measuring median real wealth and income. Your data only addresses inequity not real prosperity or poverty.

Is our perception that life is not as rich for the middle class caused by a loss in wealth and income or by a feeling of inequity.

It would require better analysis than my meager Google Foo but a quick look turned up a median middle class incomes from 1970 to 2018 rose 49% in that same period the cost of living rose 650%. God that looks bleak. Could it really be that bad.

There is this plot:

That shows from 1970 to 2018 a small drop in the real hourly wages of production and non-supervisory workers. Not as bleak as my other data showed but still that says that workers in the lower middle class are less prosperous, less rich in real terms not just relative to the rich.

If you couple real income declines with greater variety of consumer products and escalation of consumer expectation (we want to have it all and are told we should be able to have it all) with the obvious inequality, with the rich affording a gilded lifestyle (and they flaunt it). No wonder the middle class feel poorer than they used to. They are poorer in real terms and much poorer in relative terms.

TEK