Al jazeera americas yearlong conversation about americas middle class rebuilding the dream. Nine out of 10 americans identify themselves as already being in or aspiring to be in the middle class. And most americans agree that the middle class is in crisis, squeezed by years of job losses, rises costs and stagnant wages. Over the next hour, i will introduce you to people like yourselves, people with real world pressures in their daily lives, people like the sabino family of new york, the maddox family of oregon. I will speak to americas foremost experts that follow problems americans face. Robert reich, Teamsters UnionJames Hoffa Suzie hormann and robert schiller. We will identify why the middle class is crucial to a thriving economy. Who is in the middle class . The pressures they face and what it will take to keep the dream from slipping away from millions of americans. While 90 of americans aspire to be in the middle class, when you dig deeper, you will find only 44 of americans today say they actually belong to the middle class. And thats down from 53 who identified themselves as middle class in 2008 when the recession hit. While there is no accepted definition of what the middle class is, economists often define it by income. For the purposes of our conversation now, we will define americas middle class as households with total incomes of anywhere between 40 and 100, 000 a year. Based based on our analysis that encompasses middle americans across america diversity who have similar dreams and aspirations for families, a secure job, owning a home, access to good healthcare and a College Education for your children. Add to that, some time off to go on vacation and ability to save enough to live comfortably during retirement of for many middle class families, these things are harder to achieve. For context, Median Household Income in the United States was 51,371 a year in 2012. Thats not an average. Median means half of all of households earned more and half earned less. Thats 7 lower than it was in 2008. In fact, adjusted for inflation, Median Household Income in 2012 was no higher than it was in 1995. Thats a setback of 17 years. The median number is problematic for this discussion because it doesnt take into account the big geographical differences between the cost of living in communities like new york where i am now and, say, mississippi where some of you may be. Focusing on income alone doesnt take into account how the middle class behaves. So we are confident in our definition but i am going to spends the year figuring this out. Either way, rebuilding the American Dream is important for us all because the most important part of a robust economy is its middle class. Spending by middle class families creates strong consumer demand. Without a strong middle class, americas economy will factor. Todays middle class is under pressure. Starting now, we are going to shine a light on that problem and look for solutions that help us all to prosper. The sabino family in long island new york really wants to prosper but like many middle class families across america, the sabinos say every month involves a balancing act. You start feeling suffocated within your marriage and within your home, all because of you cant get ahead. Phil and diane sabino couldnt afford a honeymoon when they married in 1989 but they would if they worked hard and saved money, they would some day live the American Dream. To achieve the American Dream right now, its very difficult. Turn into a nightmare actually. Yes. Cereal, buy one, get one free. Coupons are not the only things they cut out. They rarely go away on vacation, eat out, or buy new clothes. Yeah. Phil works the midnight shift at ups. Diane has two jobs, at the School Cafeteria and the ymca. Together, they earn more than 90,000 a year, enough to put them close to the head of the class, the middle class, but thats not how they feel. I feel like i am on a treadmill, like i am sweating and there is no where to go. One little set back here or sink. 90,000 may sound like a lot of money, but long island is one of the most expensive places in america. The sabinos property taxes have more than doubled to over 12,000 a year since they bought their modest home . You cant afford the utilities, the taxes. Its outrageous. Its, you know, i am worried. Even if we moved out of state, our salary goes down . We have family here if we have family here, maybe we would, you know, recalculate. The sabinos say theyer just one step away from Economic Disaster. Every month involves a balancing act. They want to replace their oil heater with a more economic cal one but they cant afford the 7,000 it would cost. There are more immediate concerns like the car. That car is on borrowed tires, you know. Its like, please, another year, at least six months, to see what we can do. And that is how daytoday worries become concerns about the future. He has retirement from his job. I dont have a retirement. But when an emergency comes up, i have to take from that. Thats something you never want to do. Despite their struggles, the sabinos try to remain positive . Have. Yeah. The sabinos worry about Financial Security like many middle class families, they say they are feeling squeezed. Joining us in their home in linden hurst new york are diane and phil sabino and their son and daughter, laura and anthony sabino. Diane, whats the speed on that treadmill that you are talking about being on right now . How are you feeling . I am still running. Still running and now the car that i spoke about is done. The engine cracked. And we are working on one car, and now he has to get another car. And we are in trouble with that. Well, phil, you said something to our producer, and that is that the tires on that car were going to need to cost you 600 bucks and you were hoping it would last you several more months but even if it did, where would you get that 600 bucks . Now you have a problem. This is a typical problem i think a lot of people face, expense you didnt need and now you have got. Tell me how you deal with that. Well, i would just have to sacrifice from another bill i would pay unfortunately, or dip into my retirement, sell some stock or something. Thats all i can do. Yes. You are ready to embark on your life . Yes. How do you how do you look at the situation and what do you want to do differently . Now. I dont go because i dont have a main focus. The money that my parents put into it and if i dont use that its its a waste. Phil, what do you think holds you back . Whats the thing you would like to see change that would help you finally, after 25 years of trying to get this right, help you get ahead . Well, like i said before, my taxes are half of my mortgage. Its pretty outrageous. They keep going up and up and up. Its a struggle. Its i cant keep up with it. I just cant keep up with it. Its outrageous. Property taxes. Your property taxes. Way over board. Quite a bit. Phil and diane, you have made a go of it this long. I suspect you will continue. Thank you for telling us your story and kick off our coverage of the struggles of the middle class in america. Phil and diane sabino and anthony and laura joining us from lindenhurst, long island lets drill down. Robert reich served during the Clinton Administration and spent decades studying pressures that the middle class in america faces his book after shock, the next economy in americas future is the basis for the film, inequality for all which explores the widening income gap between the classes in the u. S. Contrary to popular mythology, globalization and technology havent reduced the number of Jobs Available to americas. These transformations have reduced their pay. Its not just that wages are stagnant. But when you take into consideration rising costs, the riding cost of rent or homes, dramatically increasing costs of healthcare, the riding costs of child care, and, also, the riding cost of higher education, rising much fat earn inflation. Robert reich joins us from the university of california, berkeley where he is a professor of Public Policy. Good to see you. You heard us speak with the sabinos. Income, getting loans, general upward economic mobility, i dont think thats in dispute but close the circle for my viewers about why a weakening or dwindling or fragile middle us. It is a problem in several respects, ali. Number one, you need a large and buoyant middle class in order to maintain enough purchasing power in the economy so that there are jobs, so that the economy is growing. You know, this economy depends on the spending of the middle class more than almost any other economy. If the middle class doesnt have enough money, if its actually sinking, then it cannot turn around and keep the economy going on its own, which is one reason why this recovery has been so anemic. Well, you and others often hold up germany as an example of a modern highwage paying nation that also manufactures and exports and maintains a healthy middle class. What does germany do right, and is there something there that america can use as an example . Well, i am always reluctant to point to another nation and say america should follow that nation because, obviously, every place is very different. We had a very successful periody the way in the three decades after the Second World War when we did some things jamie has been doing, investing like mad in education, including technical education, vocational education. Not everybody should have to go to college. No. 2, investing in infrastructure, so that there is the ability of everybody to be far more productive. Number 3, a tax structure that is progressive so that people at the top are actually investing in the Economic Development and the productivity of everything else. And number 4, making sure that the Financial Sector doesnt get too out of control, that the economy doesnt turn into a kind of casino cam tallism where money is exchanging hands but nothing is actually being built or achieved. There are a lot of things that germany is doing that actually generates a high, real income, higher than the United States where the median german worker and, also, not so much income and wealth, concentrated at the top. Instead of over 20 of total income going to the top 1 , thats what we have here in the United States, and in germany, its closer to about 11 of 1 . Okay. You talk about 20 of total income going to the top. Lets talk about inequality for a second. You obviously we aub subscribe to an Economic System which provides insent evidently and opportunities for people to prosper, and many have. You say that the 400 richests americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million americans. So 400 people in america own more than fully half of all americans combined. Is this part of the problem, or can you have really, really rich people as well as a stable and healthy middle class . Well, you could they aoreti y theoretically. One of the problems, though, of having so much income and wealth concentrated at the top is that you also have more and more political power concentrated at the top because naturally, power follows money and a lot of the wealthy videos and big corporations do exert in the United States a great deal of political power and control which is one reason why marginal income taxes on the top have gone down since the 1970s. We saw a big, big drop in the 80s and a little increase in the 90s and it continued to drop. We also have seen a deregulation, deregulation of wall street. Im sorry on to say starting under the administration i worked for, bill clintons administration. We have seen the very wealthy dont particularly want to invest as much as other companies in education, in job skills, in infrastructure, in a lot of your basic safety nets that so much of the middle class and poor need because there is no job security left in the United States. Its a good conversation. I hope you will join us as we continues to cover it for the next year here on al jazeera america. Robert reich, the former u. S. Labor secretary, professor of Public Policy at the university of california at berkeley. Good middle class jobs are the cornerstone for americas economy. For millions of americans, that factory . You remember when you first got hired was the greatest time. I remember parking that car and punching in with that card, my good. Coming up, filling the gap where americas factories once stood plus what the middle class jobs of tomorrow might look like. You are watching an al jazeera special presentation, americas middle calls rebuilding the dream. Every sunday night, join us for excusive. Revealing. And surprising talks, with the most interesting people of our time. Hip hop pioneer Russell Simmons talks with Soledad Obrien i make mistakes everyday, i dont try to count them. About his music. The artist should say whats on peoples minds. His cause. Dominion over the animals does not mean abuse. And his future. I wanna make movies and tv shows that reflect the new america. Russell simmons up close and personal. Talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera being middle class means to be able to own a car and pay a mortgage and pay for your kids to go to school. I think its living a comfortable life but having social consciousness for those who are not as well off as you are. The struggle of americas middle class is in large part a story about jobs. Specifically the deteriorating quality of jobs. This is now an economy that is overwhelmingly geared to providing Services Rather than making things. Think burger flippers versus auto workers. As we heard earlier, technology and globalization eliminated some jobs from america and contributed to declining wages. Nor has the result nowhere has the result taken a higher toll than in americas rust belt. David shuster has the story of how fading for tunes of americas Steel Industry has decimated a Small Community 35 miles east of pittsburgh. Reporter this gate here when i got hired in the mill, they told me this is where i was going to go to work. I was excited. I was a young kids. I had a little brown bag my mother fixed for me. He was born and raised in rearden, West Virginia, a young 7 these years old he started working at the towns steel mill day . Hundreds of guys going in and out. The smoke and the speed, the sign, there was just paint on that sign. It was bright and white. Once one of the Worlds Largest steel producers with nearly 14,000 employees, it was part of a flourishing industrial sector in the post world war ii era that brought Economic Security to families nationwide. As factories and plants thrived, so did the middle class. Productivity grew. Babies boomed, standards of living rose, and a new generation of homeowners created the modern American Dream. They are productivity jobs and enabled people to have upward social mobility for them and their kids. Those oncerith mim furnaces began to go quiet in the 1970s as automation combined with loss of production to countries overseas dealt a devastating blow to themill and u. S. Manufacturing as a whole. The Manufacturing Sector used today provide around 30 of all employment, and now its more like 12 . Economist Lawrence Mitchell said that loss of almost 8 Million Manufacturing jobs from a peak of 20 million in 1979 has been a historic decline for middle class families and towns. A quick glance along the main street only proves the point. Empty store fronts, rundown businesses and a bus terminal where buses no longer stop. This was booming back in them days, the greyhound buses used to stop. This is a place where the guys used to get breakfast in the mornings and gol to work when they finished up at midnight and stop and have coffee. Delbarta. Now, the cafe mostly serves mil retirees, third and fourth generation steel workers. 15,000 people in the mill down to under a thousand now. It did devastate the town. At its peak in the 1960s, around 30,000 people lived in rearden. Back then, mil workers out of high school could counts on a wage of 16 an hour until they decided to retire. For their children, not even a College Education translates days. So grandparents with their small Social Security checks and small pension checks are taking care of those kids because its hard for them to find work around here. Please . The towns aging population hovers closer to 19,000, about a lost. Its a story of america. I think our government has forgot the middle class and what the struggles are today. People are struggling today. Not just in this town, but everywhere. The largest employer in the state was the steel mill and now its walmart. Tells a tale. He drives around West Virginia hoping to track things in the state. He says the last three decades have seen middle class wages stag nature as household costs have risen . The wages of a steel worker at rearden in 1979 were higher than the wages of a contemporary walmart worker is today. Just steps away from the memorial honoring fallen mil workers, the walmart has replaced the mils former headquarters. Still, some of the youngest generation in rearden havent given up hope. I always told my mom, my dad, if i could make good money here, i would stay here. 26yearold sean brown, a National Guardsman lives with his wife and high school sweetheart, danielle and their 6 month old baby, maggie may. A few years ago, sean managed to grab one of the rare job openings at the mil. Ahead. You just go in, do your job, and take it day by day. The feelings that you remember when you first got hired was the greatest time. Because i remember parking that car, and i remember punching in