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THE “MODEL MINORITY” MYTH: ASIAN AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE GREAT RECESSION

Data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (2003–2014) were used to both investigate trends in Asian American middle class status attainment before, during, and after the Great Recession and compare such attainment to that of non-Hispanic Whites. Using three different operational definitions of the middle class, we show that middle class size estimates during recession and post-recession were lower than pre-recession estimates for both Asian Americans and Whites. For all three periods, Asian Americans were substantially less likely to have achieved middle class status compared with Whites. The racial gap did not narrow or widen due to the Great Recession. Our analysis also found that basic demographic and socioeconomic differences explained a little over a quarter of this middle class attainment gap.