The number of “middle class” people in the world, even if estimated according to a very modest income by trans-Atlantic standards, dropped by nearly 150 million in the pandemic crisis during 2020, and this impoverishment has clearly continued into 2021, according to Bloomberg Businessweek April 7, reporting based largely on surveys of the Pew Center and the World Bank.
The surveys defined “middle class” as designating average earnings of $10-20/day; and “upper middle class” as meaning earnings of $20-50/day (U.S. minimum wage is roughly $60/day). The estimated 150 million people worldwide who had reached these levels and lost them in 2020 were concentrated in the field of small business and “informal” service occupations; and by nation the largest impoverishment of this “middle class” occurred in India and South Asia, the “Middle East North Africa” region, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
