• the_post_of_tom_joad [any, any]
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I'm trying to find data to support this claim. Only stat i found was one saying 60% of [people enlisting in] the military make under 34-80k, with 20% making less than that. If that bracket is what the term middle class means now then the term is officially useless.

    Do you have anything else a bit more granular? My fu must be weak this morning

    [Edit: clarified meaning]

    • The_Walkening [none/use name]
      ·
      1 year ago

      It's not that the US Military pays it's troops a "middle-class" wage , it's that troops in general come from middle-class families and communities.

      Also a lot of the compensation is housing and healthcare, so them making 34k is maybe more comparable to someone getting paid 50-60k depending on the housing market where they are.

      • the_post_of_tom_joad [any, any]
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        It's not that the US Military pays it's troops a "middle-class" wage , it's that troops in general come from middle-class families and communities

        This is what i was saying, though reading my post i can see that was unclear. My scant data shows demographics of enlisted prior to enlisting is 60% 34-80k and 20% below that bracket.

        • The_Walkening [none/use name]
          ·
          1 year ago

          Ahh gotcha - yeah I got my info from a CFR report that basically says the same thing, but the breakdown was by median household income: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/demographics-us-military