thats not a coincidence even as the white house boasts about creating the strongest economy in decades with recordlow unemployment rates and financial markets reaching new highs many middle class americans say they feel left behind or find that they are having to run harder to stand still more as income inequality soars languishing labor unions make a return as the 2020 presidential election kicks up into high gear here are what experts point to as some of the top economic issues that middle class families in america currently face the issue of time is almost like the other side of the coin from the issue of wages and income if you can only get a decent income if you put a huge amount of hours in the us is experiencing one of the longestrunning bull markets in its history yet 40 of americans recently said that they couldnt cover an unexpected 400 expense having insurance or health care is important to your mental quality of life whether you use it or not a 2018 report from the brookings institute found that over the past few decades there have been troubling indications that dynamism and competition in the us economy have declined today it is one of the most expensive it is more than twice most countries in europe soaring health care costs healthcare is routinely at the top of the list of voters concerns and for good reason in fact medical bills are the no 1 cause of personal bankruptcy among americans according to a 2019 study from the american journal of public health the political economy of the middle class is not just about jobs and wages its also about communities and families and respect he said the labor union unite here holds a rally for american airlines food caterers to demand health care for the workers at terminal 8 at jfk airport in new york nov 26 2019 corbis via getty images file the slow growth in wages is the single biggest economic issue hampering middleclass families according to elise gould a senior economist at the leftleaning think tank the economic policy institute if you feel like youre running yourself ragged but arent making headway youre not alone number of billionaires grew by nearly 40 over past 5 years americans were treated to a sort of controlled experiment in the implications of this when the government shutdown caught hundreds of thousands of government employees many of whom are among those who live paycheck to paycheck flatfooted earle told abc news via email and with the financial unease that many people say they are feeling these issues might have an impact on how they decide to vote according to the reports data overall median realwages increased approximately 6 between 1979 and 2018 us markets have become less competitive philippon told abc news income growth of the middle class has been slower than for both those above and below them richard reeves a senior