The lower-middle class in America today is in worse health and has fewer savings when they enter retirement compared to 20 years ago.

This ‘forgotten’ class has a lower life expectancy, is expected to suffer from chronic illnesses and have less overall wealth when compared to the previous generation of Americans who had a similar income in the 1990s.

Americans who fall into the lower-middle class category are often overlooked because they earn too much money to qualify for state or federal assistance, such as Medicaid, food stamps or housing vouchers, but they earn too little to adequately have the resources to cover the increasing costs of healthcare and housing.

In a study released Wednesday, researchers analyzed the health and economic well-being of select cohorts of middle-aged Americans between 1994 and 2018. They gathered data from the National Institute on Aging-sponsored Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal survey of American households with at least one adult aged 51 or older.

Survey participants spanned multiple races and consisted of men and women aged 53 to 58 years old across the US.

‘The public conversation about inequality tends to focus on the challenges faced by only the most vulnerable populations,’ said Bryan Tysinger, co-author of the study and director of health policy simulation at the USC Schaeffer Center. 

‘But our models found that there has been an important divergence in the middle of the economic distribution’. 

While there are no hard boundaries for what defines the middle class, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates it as people who make between approximately $38,000 and $114,400 per year. 

For the study, the individual earnings among people researchers deemed lower-middle class was $31,110 and the average for those deemed upper-middle class was $57,233 over the 24 years measured.

The study found the healthy life expectancy of people 60 years old increased by five percent over the 24 years observed to approximately 84 years old for women and 78 years old for men. 

Healthy life expectancy remained mostly unchanged for people in the lower economic class over the study time period, with an expected life expectancy of 78 years old for women and 75 years old for men.

Researches also said the health status of people at 50 years old worsened for both the upper – and lower-middle classes, but the rate it has deteriorated has been faster for those in the lower class. 

While about one-fifth of higher-earners smoked in 1994, that number was slashed in half by 2018. Among lower-earners, approximately one-third smoked in 1994, a number that was virtually unchanged in 2018. 

People reporting chronic pain increased in both cohorts, but increased at a faster rate among lower earners. 

One area with the reverse trend was obesity. Overall, more men and women across both economic classes were obese in 2018 than in 1994.

However, the percentage of higher-earning men was higher in 2018 than lower-earning men and increased at a faster rate. In 2018, the percentages of obese men in the upper-middle class (about half) surpassed that of obese men in the lower-middle class (about one-third). 

Among women, obesity increased at nearly the same rate in both classes. 

‘Our findings suggest that today’s lower-middle class will spend a larger proportion of their older life with poor health’, said Jack Chapel, the study’s lead author. 

‘For example, an average 60-year-old woman in the lower-middle in 2018 will reach age 84. We project that almost 40 percent of her remaining years will be lived with a disability – an increase since 1994’.

Not only has the life expectancy and health gap between the classes widened, but the wealth chasm has grown as well. From 1994 to 2018, the combined financial value at 60 years old of people in the upper-middle class grew by 13 percent. In the lower-middle class, wealth barely grew, increasing just three percent. 

Additionally, homeownership, and the wealth that comes with it, drastically dropped for the lower-middle class between 1994 and 2018. While the homeownership rate in 1994 was approximately 10 percent lower than the upper-middle class, the gap tripled by 2018. 

‘Our study projects lower-middle Americans will spend a longer proportion of remaining life with significant healthcare needs, but with no more economic resources to attend to those needs than similar cohorts had 20 years earlier’, said Dana Goldman, co-author of the study and dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. 

As the oldest person ever sworn in to the White House, President Joe Biden has faced questions and concerns over his mental as well as physical acuity since taking one one of the most stressful jobs in the world.

But aside from his advanced age, Biden, 79, has worried even supporters with numerous gaffes over the year he’s been in office.

JANUARY 24, 2022 – BIDEN CALLS PETER DOOCY A ‘STUPID SON OF A B*****’ 

‘You displayed this type of mood change during a cabinet meeting on when you apparently did not know your microphone was on after finishing your opening remarks, and you called a White House reporter a “stupid son of a b****”in response to a question asked on inflation,’ Jackson claimed.

He was referring to a hot mic moment in late January during which Biden criticized Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, after which the president personally apologized to the journalist. 

Biden has also been known to have trouble with the names of his most senior officials, foreign leaders and even countries. 

MARCH 8, 2022 – SLIPPING AND FORGETTING LLOYD AUSTIN’S NAME 

The president slipped up during the March 8 speech while trying to remember Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s name.

‘I want to thank Sec-, the former general, I keep calling him “General.” My – the guy who runs that outfit over there,’ Biden said, before quickly adding, ‘I want to make sure we thank the secretary for all he’s done.’

A trip to Texas that same month to visit a Houston-area vaccination center saw Biden apparently lose his train of thought and become confused. He even asked, ‘What am I doing here?’ while trying to get himself back on track.

On multiple occasions Biden has also appeared to refer to Vice President Kamala Harris as the ‘president.’ During a commencement speech at South Carolina State University in late December, Biden remarked: ‘Of course, President Harris is a proud Howard alum.’

He made the mistake again more recently, declaring during a voting rights speech in Georgia on January 11 that ‘President Harris and I stood on the United States Capitol.’

Biden has been known to get dates confused as well — in May 2021 he recalled traveling via Amtrak to see his mother while he was vice president in 2013. But his mother had died in 2010.

The apparent issues began long before Biden took the White House. When he was on the campaign trail in September 2020, then-candidate Biden was widely mocked for saying ‘200 million people have died’ from COVID-19 under Donald Trump’s watch. The number was around 200,000 at the time.

And while president, Biden had to be corrected on a statistic regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. During a COVID-19 White House press conference, Biden attempted to say, ’57… excuse me… 570… I don’t want to read it, I’m not sure I got the right number…’ Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci aided him to say the figure was ’57 million.’

JUNE 18, 2022 – BIDEN FALLS DURING BIKE RIDE

Biden fell off his bike during a ride near his Rehoboth Beach home on June 18.

He had come over to say hello to a crowd that had gathered near the Gordon’s Pond State Park bike trail, with people yelling ‘Happy Father’s Day’ to the president. 

Upon trying to dismount the bike, his shoes caught and he fell over sideways, causing a mad scramble of Secret Service and press trying to help him up.   

Gasps rang out after the fall, which saw Biden stay on the ground for roughly 10 seconds, before being helped up by several Secret Service Agents, who immediately swarmed the downed Democrat.

Moments later, Biden was glad-handing the crowd – even bringing one woman out to meet first dog Commander, who was being walked nearby. 

Despite the tumble, the president did not appear to suffer any abrasions or cuts from the spill and the White House said he didn’t need to see a doctor after the incident.

Biden himself told reporters: ‘I’m good’ after the tumble. 

JULY 8, 2022 – BIDEN HAS ANOTHER RON BURGUNDY MOMENT

Republican strategist Greg Price mocked Biden on Twitter after yet another gaffe in which the president appeared to read speaking directions off of his teleprompter.

‘It is noteworthy that the percentage of women who register to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so. End of quote. Repeat the line,’ the president said during a White House speech Friday.

‘Women are not without electoral…or political power.’

Posting the clip on social media, Price compared it to Will Farrell’s Ron Burgundy being unable to deviate from the script on his teleprompter despite grammatical mistakes and obvious errors. 

Burgundy’s embarrassing on-air verbal incidents are a recurring gag throughout the movie.

Price posted a clip of Burgundy’s frustrated news crew and suggested the White House staffers behind-the-scenes were feeling similarly. 

But White House Assistant Press Secretary Emilie Simons challenged Price’s claim that Biden made a mistake.

‘No,’ Simons wrote, adding that Biden said ‘Let me repeat that line.’

 

CONFUSING LIBYA AND SYRIA 

Biden repeatedly confused Syria with Libya while discussing ways of working with Russia during a press conference at the G7 on June 13, 2021.

The 78-year-old gaffe machine spoke of working with Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide economic assistance to the people of Libya, prompting some confused glances from the press pack at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England.

‘I’m hopeful that we can find an accommodation where we can save the lives of people in — for example, in — in Libya,’ the president said, mentioning the north African country for the third time instead of Syria, which is in the Middle East. The White House later brushed the confusion off, confirming that the president was indeed referring to Syria, the country where Russia and the US have been involved in a decade-long civil war.

TRIPPING WHILE CLIMBING THE AIR FORCE ONE STAIRS 

On March 19, video captured Biden tripping up the stairs as he boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews.

In the clip, Biden stumbles as he walks up the airstairs. He grabs the hand railing to catch his balance, but then loses his footing two additional times.

During the third stumble, he falls to his knees. However, after brushing off his leg, he reaches the top of the plane and gives a salute before disappearing inside.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later told reporters that Biden was ‘100 percent fine’ and preparing for his trip in Atlanta.

‘It’s pretty windy outside. It’s very windy. I almost fell coming up the steps myself,’ she said.

Just one day earlier, Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as ‘President Harris.’

The gaffe occurred during a press conference on March 18, during which he lauded his administration for being close to meeting their goal of 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office.

‘Now when President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses on that, on that tour injecting people, giving vaccinations, said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope,’ Biden said.

Harris was standing behind Biden as the president carried on with his speech, but did not correct himself.

Later that day, when the White House released the transcript of his speech, Harris’s proper title was inserted with brackets.

In a speech on March 9, Biden seemed to fumble with his words and forget the name of his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

‘I want to thank Sec – the former general – I keep calling him “General,”‘ Biden said.

‘My – the guy who runs that outfit over there. I want to make sure we thank the Secretary for all he’s done to try to implement what we’ve just talked about, and for recommending these two women for promotion.’ The slip-occurred despite the fact that just a few minutes earlier, he had mentioned Austin’s name in the speech without an issue.

During an Election Day speech in Philadelphia, Biden stumbled over his words and confused his granddaughter with his late son, Beau Biden.

Biden told the crowd: ‘I want to introduce you to two of my granddaughters…this is my son, Beau Biden who a lot of you helped elect to the Senate in Delaware.’

The commander-in-chief had meant to introduce the crowed to Natalie, Beau’s daughter, but hadn’t just mixed up the name but the person – he also put his arm around Finnegan Biden, Hunter’s daughter.

He finally corrected himself as he draped his arm around Natalie’s shoulder and said: ‘This is Natalie, this is Beau’s daughter.’

Beau Biden passed away in 2015 after a months-long battle with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain cancer.

TOLD STATE SENATOR IN WHEELCHAIR TO STAND UP

In 2008, Biden told then-Missouri state senator Chuck Graham to stand up for the crowd at a rally, before realizing he was in a wheelchair

Not all of Biden’s gaffes occurred in the 2020s or even the 2010s. In fact, some happened in the early aughts.

In September 2008, after Biden had been named former President Barack Obama’s running mate, he attended a campaign rally in Missouri.

It was there that he called on then-Missouri state senator Chuck Graham, who passed away last year. to stand up for the crowd.

‘I’m told Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up Chuck, let ’em see you,’ Biden said.

It was at that moment he realized Graham was in a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy.

‘Oh, God love you. What am I talking about. I’ll tell you what, you’re making everybody else stand up, though, pal.’

According to the Columbia Tribune, Graham said he was never offended by the mistake.