In order to stay in the middle class, middle class families spend themselves into debt.
Consumer debt is at four trillion dollars. Unsecured personal loans are back in style. Loan Star College economist Hank Lewis tells KTRH says a lot of this is out of control spending.
"There are some families that don't differentiate well between wants and needs," Lewis said, adding that there is also a 'Keeping up with the Jones' attitude out there.
"Social media, like Instagram doesn't help," Lewis stated.
There is another component to this, Lewis said. Many people simply just held back on spending during the Great Recession.
"A lot of families paid their debts down and held back on it for quite a while, explained Lewis.
There's also the matter of student debt, which was 1.5 trillion dollars last year. That exceeds all other forms of consumer debt except mortgages.