The Great 'Meltdown': Why The American Middle Class Isn’t What it Used to Be Listen Download Embed Share Share this on Facebook (Opens in a new window) Share this on Twitter (Opens in a new window) Share this via Email For the first time since the 1970s, the number of people in the lowest and highest income classes outnumber the middle class in the U.S. ( kirill_makarov / Shutterstock ) Produced by Mythili Rao Produced by PRI and WNYC