The middle-class conundrum

There is a popular saying that self-respect is the only thing middle-class people own universally. This is, in reality, a reflection of the social dynamics that we grow up inculcating inside us in our society. It is rightly pointed that people belonging to the middle-class economic status actually consider ‘self-respect’ as their most valuable possession. One of the reasons for this kind of mindset might be the fact that middle-class people remain stuck in the middle, especially when it comes to their livelihood and lifestyle. To put it in plain words, when economy plummets down, it is probably the middle-class, though many may disagree, who bear most of the brunt.

Take the example of the pandemic. According to estimates, 22 per cent of the total population of Bangladesh belong to the middle-class category, which is projected to reach 25 per cent by 2025 and 33 per cent by 2030. With the advent of coronavirus and the consequent gloomy economic prognosis thrust upon us by the pandemic, the scenario has changed.

According to findings of a study conducted by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and the Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), around 2.45 crore people - almost 14.75 percent of the country’s population – have become new poor owing to the economic shock caused by the pandemic. It clearly insinuates that the number of middle-class has definitely decreased as the ‘new poor’ were not poor beforehand, rather their deteriorating income has pushed them into this status.

So, why so many people could not survive the economic shock, especially those belonging to the middle-class? Of course, rising living expenses, dwindling savings and mounting debt have contributed to the reasons, but we often forget another bitter truth that it is the middle-class people who find themselves between the devil and the deep sea whenever there is an economic crisis. It’s because both the poor and the rich classes have their own adjustment strategy, but middle-class people cannot resort to any of those strategies.

Take a look at this narrative to better comprehend this notion. Anwar Hossain, a 37-year-old man working in a private company, wakes up every morning with same kind of desperation and hastiness. He trims himself, followed by a decent breakfast, and then gives a narrow smile to his wife and finally, steps out of his place for office. The moment he begins his journey for workplace, his struggle begins as well.

At the very outset, rickshaw puller demands an additional amount putting the blame on the soaring prices of daily commodities. After a feisty exchange of words with the puller, Anwar is compelled (to some extent) to spend some extra penny as all other pullers will behave in the same way. Well, after reaching the bus stand, Anwar gets on a bus. There as well the bus conductor charges extra because of high price of gas/oil/diesel. Anwar is again left with no option other than giving extra fare.

After suffering all these, Anwar can make it to his office. Well, the readers can feel a bit relaxed at this point, but Anwar has no respite as he has to count extra money to have his lunch in the cafeteria as the canteen owner has increased lunch-fee due to escalating price of spices and other essentials. This is how Anwar has to expend a considerable amount of extra money every day to complete his day-to-day activities.

The above-mentioned incidents are fictitious, but a person like Anwar Hossain is defined as a member of the middle-class in our society. He is not alone, rather he represents an economic class, fondly called as middle-class. Lodged between elite and penniless, middle-class people are counted in the general type who can neither ascend to aristocracy nor descend to penury. Such a dilemma sometimes could be the reason of great discomfort, caused by the inability to make ends meet. As a result, a middle-class man often suffers from some kind of restlessness owing to the fact that they are right in the middle of the country’s economic cycle, but they often find it difficult to cope with the changing economic norms.

To make it more clear, let me be more specific. Economic change, price hike in particular, hits the middle-class people more strongly than any other class. Both elite class and poor class somehow adjust with the changes. Price hike is no big deal for rich people because they have deep pockets to tackle any situation. Similarly, poor people adopt different techniques to handle the changing circumstances. For instance- a rickshaw puller increases his fare, a day-laborer demands a hike in his daily wage, a vegetable seller raises the prices of different vegetables, a domestic help charges extra for doing household chores and so on. In this way, people from the lowest stratum of the society earn their bread and butter and cope with tough times, no matter how adverse the situation is.

On the other hand, middle-class people cannot do any of these. They neither have a fat wallet like the aristocrats to spend some extra penny nor can they bump up their income the way poor people do in times of economic change. Even middle class people cannot ask their employer for an increment most of the time as your employer is not definitely going to offer you an increment in every six months despite their awareness of the volatile situation of the market. Under such circumstances, it goes without saying that these so-called economically unfortunate middle-class people suffer terribly, even sometimes the extent of their pangs crosses the limit.

Well, unfortunately many of us belong to this class and most of us suffer. Over the years, this class has been studied by economists and social scientists, and many have tried to define this class in terms of words. But, those are very literal definitions. In that case, what does it really mean to be ‘middle class’? They can be defined as ‘a class caught in the dilemma’. It’s actually a conundrum and middle-class embodies a confused and difficult rung of the social ladder which is caught between a rock and a hard place as far as economic freedom is concerned.

The writer is a freelance contributor