In Western society, a commonly repeated narrative is “work hard and you will succeed”. Individuals are encouraged to tick off various check boxes to verify this success, such as buying a house, getting married, studying well, raising a perfect nuclear family and retiring in peace after a life of hard work. Being part of the middle class used to be more than just an economic category, it was a positioning that Western society deemed as being achievable and “good”, a blue print for what a comfortable life should look like. But across the world today this positioning seems to be slipping further and further out of reach. With cost of living crises breaking out across the globe, the credentialed, overworked, and burnt out are finding the mirage of the middle class to be always just a few metres out of their grasp.
This global unravelling stretches from the suburbs of Chicago, the soaring housing prices of Australia, the “Hell Joseon” of South Korea, and the micro-flats of London. A resounding theme amongst all these cases is the stalling of upwards mobility and a growing sceptiscm of the idealistic theory of meritocracy.
i. The Fall of the American Dream
The mirage visably appears in the landscape of Chicago, where the American Dream has become just that – a dream. A recent analysis by Harvard University has found that Chicago residents born to low-income families are faring far worse than previous generations, matching a growing national trend. Fewer than 1 in 5 adult Gen Zer’s either own a home or are married to someone who owns a home. The survey by John Burns Research and Consulting found that there is an overwhelmingly pessimistic and resigned attitude towards home ownership from Gen Z, with one 24-year old renter quoted as saying “…owning a home is a goal, but we know that’s probably never happening.” This is a commonly echoed sentiment. Despite young peoples ambitions and commitment to hardwork, often juggling multiple jobs at one time, cost of living continues to rise to unattainable standards.
Arroyo, M. 2024.
Fewer than 1 in 5 adult Gen Zer’s either own a home or are married to someone who owns a home.
Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu would call this a systemic failure of capital conversion. Bourdieu theorised that cultural capital is gained through ticking off the societal check boxes, such as going to university, getting a well-regarded job, skill building, buying a house and raising a family of high achieving children. The failure arises when cultural captial (degrees and skills) no longer convert to economic capital. It’s clear that the rules of the economic game have changed, but a dissonance arises when society tells young people that they are on the same playing field.
While the desire for the middle class comfort remains bright, the reality is increasingly dimming.
ii. Australia’s Suffocating Cost of Living Strain
This crisis is not constrained by geographical borders, with a report by Morningstar suggesting that 90% of housing is now unafforable for most Australians living on the median income. This number drops down to 0% for those on low incomes. Furthermore, rising cost of rents have added another dimesion to the unattainability of owning property. The Guardian reports that middle-income Australians are spending up to a third of their income on rent, minimising their opportunities for savings. The promised comfort of the middle class is slipping from the grasp of the majority, creating an ever-growing divide between high income earners and everyone else. It is no wonder that there is a rising trend in delayed departure from family homes. Furthermore, students studying in Australia are being forced to skip meals due to affordability issues and working restrictions.
Economist Guy Standing discusses the emergence of ‘The Precariat’, a new emerging class of people experiencing unstable labour, unstable government supports and benefits and unpromised social and economic standings. In a particularly Marxist view, a small propotion of high-income earners retain stable access to housing while members of the precariat are left reeling with chronic instability and reduced pathways for upwards mobility.
iii. South Korea’s ‘High Effort-Low Return’ Economy
South Korea has found itself in a turmoil of meritocracy, with high level of competition for achievement. Rapper, social commentor and writer Son A-Ram laments the hardships young Koreans are now facing, suggesting that the illusion of a meritocracy is crumbling. “Koreans felt … as long as they try hard, work hard and study hard, they can succeed. But now, even that is collapsing,” he says. “Young people don’t just feel left behind, they are left behind”. A term that become popularised in Korea 2015 is ‘Hell Joseon’, a satirical term used to critique the socioeconomic situation in South Korea.
Korea is a devasting example of Michael Sandels “tyranny of merit”; an economic and social system that celebrates winners but leaves the majority behind, and feeling personally responsible for structural failures.
iv. London Professionals who Can’t Live Professionally
London has long been one of the most expensive cities to live in, with rent for small city apartments disproportionately costly for their size. London professionals now exist in a confused paradox of working in well paid jobs but living in conditions that barely meet middle-class security. Cramped rentals, expensive childcare, long commutes and a strict handle on savings are now markers of the London living landscape.
Thomas Picketty was once referred to as a “radical economist” and a ‘neo-Marxist’ by rightwing commentators. But his book ‘Capital in the Twenty-first Century’ highlights the undeniable theme that is emerging in todays economic society. He theorises that in an economy where wealth grows faster than incomes, those who inherent assets will inevitably outpace anything that is earned through labour. Societies that seemingly pride themselves on being a meritocracy may have in the past neglected to acknowledge the possibility of such an economic structure. However, the increasingly evident dichotomy of the hardworking and hardly-homed, such as London’s workers, are becoming to evident to ignore.
v. The Side Hustle Economy
Perhaps one of the most telling clues to the economic struggle of those in the middle class is that of the gig economy. Educated professionals are increasingly taking up side hustles such as driving for Uber or Deliveroo, or freelancing on sites like Upwork in the evenings after their day jobs in order to earn extra cash. Gig work used to be sold as a lifestyle choice, or a way of supplementing income to make extra room for holidays or fun. Nowadays this extra money is going towards things like food, power and savings.
Bourdieu would encapsulate this subject in his concept of misrecognition, when people blindly accept the dominant social order, assuming that “that’s just the way it is and always will be” without examining the power structures and systemic blockades that perpetuate inequality.
Those in power promote hardwork and the gig economy as being part of a ‘hustle culture’, concealing the ways it insights burn out and may result in downward mobility.
In this way, the boundaries between the middle class and the working class have begun to blur more and more. The security that a middle class lifestyle used to be synonymous with has now begun to fray into a threadbare safety net.
vi. Looking to the Horizon
While this article has drawn attention to the daily struggles of many, it is yet to highlight the ways that society can change and move towards a better future. Herein lies the purpose of drawing readers attention to the global impact of cost of living crises. Systemic boundaries and blind acceptance of structural norms can be damaging and can exacerbate the growing divides between social classes. Through education and awareness, individuals can recognise their struggles not as individual failings, but as side effects of capitalist societies that strive to provide the riches to the rich, and to keep the workers working to provide more money for the rich. Upward mobility is decreasing not because people are working any less hard or are any less qualified – it’s decreasing because of the economic landscapes they are situated in. Housing has become an unattainable and often inhereted wealth gatekeeper, education has become over-inflated and over-monetised, labour markets have become more volatile and wages have become markedly less competitive compared with pre-existing wealth and asset ownership. A growing new class – the precariat – has emerged as the traditional notion of the middle class loses its footing on the economic ladder.
However, all is not lost. Through hardship, new social and political movements often occur. This has been seen in the recent New York Mayoral elections, with Zohran Mamdani’s campaign focusing predominantely on tackling the cost of living crises and recieving overwhelming social support. No doubt, with Mamdani’s electoral victory, other countries may use his economic framework — if successful — as a case study for their own reformation.
After so many years of struggle there may be change on the horizon, shifting society away from a middle class mirage and towards something tangible.
C. Wesley, First Published 25 November 2025
vii. References
Arroyo, M. 2024. Busting Gen Z Myths—What the Housing Industry Needs to Know. John Burns Research and Consulting. https://jbrec.com/insights/gen-z-and-myths-about-homeownership-for-this-group/
Eng, M & Fitzpatrick, A. 2024. Chicago’s upward mobility shrinks. AXIOS Chicago. https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/09/04/chicago-s-upward-mobility-shrinks
Gruber, J. 2024. 90% of housing is unaffordable for most Australians. Morningstar. https://www.morningstar.com.au/personal-finance/90-of-housing-is-unaffordable-for-most-australians
Kelly, C. 2025. Middle-income Australians experiencing rental stress with a third of pay spent on housing, report shows. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jan/15/australia-rental-crisis-price-increases-corelogic-report#:~:text=10%20months%20old-,Middle%2Dincome%20Australians%20experiencing%20rental%20stress%20with%20a%20third%20of,spent%20on%20housing%2C%20report%20shows&text=Even%20Australians%20on%20median%20incomes,of%20their%20wages%20on%20housing.
Mason, P. 2014. Thomas Piketty’s Capital: everything you need to know about the surprise bestseller. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/28/thomas-piketty-capital-surprise-bestseller
Williams, M. 2020. A Hope in Hell. ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-30/south-korea-hell-joseon-sampo-generation/11844506
Standing, G. (2014). The Precariat. Contexts, 13(4), 10-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504214558209
English, F. W. (2012). Bourdieu’s misrecognition: why educational leadership standards will not reform schools or leadership. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 44(2), 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2012.658763
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