Customer Reviews

(Not) Keeping Up with Our Parents: The Decline of the Professional Middle Class

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not sure what book the one-star reviewer read. In [Not] Keeping Up with Our Parents, Nan Mooney explains how life has gotten harder for middle-class professionals. While housing, health insurance, food and student loan costs have risen, incomes have not. What's more, social programs such as Social Security and corporate pension programs have dwindled. This means that people who've made reasonable decisions--to study, and to pursue responsible careers that interest them--are having a hard time making ends meet. One of her fundamental points is that the crunch isn't necessarily the individual's fault. It's not that we're frittering away our money on lattes. Rather, it's that life has gotten more expensive, and our incomes haven't kept up. It's an important book, and a timely one. Here's hoping as we reshape our country with the upcoming presidential election, that we elect leaders who want to keep the middle class dream alive.

This is a really important book... I highly recommend it. It gives an enlightening perspective to our generation's career choices. Many of us struggle with our career choices. Should I choose a career path that I find socially responsible, creative, and fulfilling? Or should I choose a career that will provide my family financial stability and opportunities? It seems that our dream job should have all those aspects, but we often find ourselves having to make the choice. Nan's book analyzes how we got to the place we are at now. She uncovers all the uneasy topics and facts that we don't like to discuss at dinner table, much less barbecues or cocktail parties. I found the book to be very well rounded with thoughtful analysis with good practical recommendations for change.

I thought this book was quite fantastic. Growing up my friends and I were told that if we went to college and got "a good job" we would be able to own our own home and send our own children to college. Well, guess what? This has turned out to not be even remotely true. I think this book is very important and is addressing a problem that I see everywhere and yet does not seem to get talked about anywhere. The housing market collapse and resulting economic slowdown have just been icing on the cake. Thank you Nan Mooney for putting into words
the experience of the disappearance of the middle class.

I am older and clearly not the target audience for this book. I belong to the "parents" generation. But I feel it is important to provide feedback from my generation.

I respect Nan Mooney's research into clearly stating the current situation facing the next generation. This is not about dysfunctional people with poor decision making skills. It is not about lack of a work ethic. The situations she describes and the economic impact on those people are real and do not make for easy reading. Nor does she pretend there are easy answers to the problems she documents so well. Indeed, she recommends general improvements consisting of a mix of individual and social responsibility focusing on specific areas where challenges exist including health care, educational expenses, housing, and more while stating she has no absolute fixes for the problems these individuals are facing.

But I strongly believe the problems she is trying to fix are not the primary problem causing the situation. Thereis a growing world market and larger competition for the same middle class jobs. That is the reality I see as well and it is not discussed in this book. Perhaps, just perhaps, there are more people globally competing for the same jobs. If so, implementing the solutions suggested in this book only ease the pain but not address the root cause. Even if everything recommended in the book is implemented, we will continue to face increased global competition for middle class jobs. I would suggest use this book for understanding and appreciating the pain faced by so many struggling to live a middle class life today. However, I suggest looking for answers beyond what this book provides given I disagree on the real root cause. So, I recommend 3 out of 5 stars.

My curiosity about (Not)Keeping Up With Our Parents was piqued after going to a reading by the author at a local bookstore. After reading it I was a bit shocked, but in a good way. I thought the interviews were well balanced and helped to shed light on this problem that many, many people have but are embarassed to talk about.

I always like this author's books and this read was no exception. I was most surprised by what a fast read it is, considering my hesitancy to look at what my perceptions are about my finances vs their reality. Though the facts of the book are troubling, it's great to know I'm not alone as I try to build security in my life.

In this book, Nan Mooney strikes a cord with those in today's middle class. The real stories are fascinating. A smart, timely read. We all thought we'd find it easy to have a better live/make more money than our parents did. The reality isn't what we all expected. This book is full of great insights into the situation; I recommend it.

I was drawn to this book since I work in the collections business for a financial institution. I deal with people who are in debt every day. I read the book in three days and thought the book laid out the facts and pieced everything together very well. I didn't consider myself an expert on all the topics addressed but I don't think you need a high IQ to understand the issues discussed in the book. There were laid out plain and simple in black and white. After reading the book, I feel like I can understand a little bit better on how people can really get themselves in financial bind. Sure, some people have no one to blame but themselves but more and more, people are overextended because the cost of living is so high and they just don't make enough to make ends meet so they rely on credit. I think the author brings up some good social & political issues that our country should address. Everyone needs affordable healthcare and a sense of financial security to hopefully retire one day. Long gone are the days of pensions and in part because our gov't looks out for Corporate America more than its own citizens. I highly recommend this book and hopefully it will ignite some activism for social change in our country.

Nan Mooney has done an excellent job in "(Not) Keeping Up With Our Parents" of discussing the financial difficulties facing many of today's 20- and 30something college graduates. We are indeed being squeezed by the high costs of basics in many metropolitan areas in a way that our parents' generation were not.

Where I disagree with Ms. Mooney is her embrace of Big Government as the solution to the problem. She yearns for a European style welfare state with socialized medicine, government-run daycare & preschool, government-financed higher education, subsidized housing, and so on. What she fails to mention is the downside to these things- high unemployment (particularly among the young), rationing of and long waiting lists for medical treatment, a "brain drain" of the best & brightest, etc.

There's got to be a "middle way" between the current laissez-faire situation failing so many and the overly intrusive nanny state Ms. Mooney calls for in "(Not) Keeping Up With Our Parents".

The middle class is gone this is one of the many books to site this. The country has moved from it's industrial and manufacturing roots. The development of the 24/7 work culture. (but with no jobs) The middle class is not longer dominated by the heterosexual white male there has been influx of career women.(Yes of coarse) Some good observations in this book such as "credit cards mask class differences" and many have become "Sallie Mae Slaves". School loans have made many people slaves so some are skipping college and becoming bakers and what not Lot of IT jobs are lost. People are not becoming parents. The plight of the over educated they have a BA in communication but that means they will work at TGIF Fridays.

Only problem with this book is the loss of the middle class is much worse then this book indicates.