Montana’s middle class is shrinking, study says

"Unfortunately, the Legislature failed to move forward the most successful anti-poverty tool to help working families — to establish an earned-income tax credit."

Montana’s middle class is shrinking as the income divide widens between the upper and lower classes.

The percentage of Montanans with middle-class incomes fell from 51.3 percent in 2000 to 46.6 percent in 2013, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The drop was more than neighboring states Wyoming and Idaho, where the percentage of households earning between 67 and 200 percent of their state’s median income was nearly flat.

Median household income in Montana in 2013 was $46,972.

By Tom Lutey

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/montana-s-middle-class-is-shrinking-study-says/article_f4eab820-5696-570b-9743-1d2b6d293d01.html#ixzz3WFiiKu8s

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Montana Credit Unions Support Hardworking Families and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) http://www.matr.net/article-65353.html