Most Americans Say They’re Working Class. Are They?

学历不再是避风港:为什么大学生也成了新工薪族?

Big Take

2026-09-18

23 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

The “working class” in America used to conjure a vivid image: factory workers, blue-collar jobs and a political coalition born out of the Industrial Revolution. But as Republicans and Democrats try to court voters ahead of midterms, a question keeps coming up: What is the working class today? On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg Opinion columnist Allison Schrager, labor activist Bertha “Mama Cookie” Bradley and Distinguished Professor of Law Joan C. Williams about the moving target of defining and catering policy to working Americans. Read more: Nobody Knows What ‘Working Class’ Even Means Anymore We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by Sarah Holder; Guests: Allison Schrager, Joan C. Williams, Bertha “Mama Cookie” Bradley; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Edited by Aaron Edwards. Engineering by Emma Munger. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • Bloomberg Audio Studios: Podcasts, Radio, News.

  • Our priority is the working class.

  • I think it shows you how deeply out of touch the Republican Party is with the concerns of working-class Americans.

  • This is a working families administration.

  • This midterm season, everyone's talking about the working class.

  • And they are really the truly the enemy of the working class.

  • But who are the working class, really?

  • Politicians, pundits, and pollsters have all been asking this question

  • because, these days, it seems like there isn't one clear answer.

  • Is it a cultural signifier?

  • An economic category?

  • Is it about your education?

  • Or is it about working a particular kind of job?

  • When you're talking about working class, you're talking about the people.

  • That's Bertha Bradley.

  • She's 67 and lives in Durham, North Carolina.

  • She goes by Mama Cookie, inspired by a nickname her grandmother gave her.

  • You're talking about my grandmother, she was the working class.

  • My grandfather's working class.

  • I'm a working-class person.