Considerations around the idea of wealth: the middle class and its unconscious enemies (2006)

Within a traditional line of studies, Eurispes identified some economic and demographic parameters of reference to identify the middle class, starting from the median annual income (calculated by the Bank of Italy) received by a household of two people, to which the corrections of the equivalence scale were applied on the basis of the number of family members. It was considered appropriate to take family size into account, as setting a unique and indistinct parameter seemed to be too restrictive and would not take into account the different and wider needs of larger households.
The middle class, depending on the size of the family nucleus, is placed in the following income classes: from 21,800 to 23,000 euros, families of two people; from 29,000 to 30,600 euros, families with three components; from 35,500 to 37,500 euros, families of four components; from 41,400 to 43,700, the largest families.
Of course, the income limits (minimum and maximum) constitute a variable boundary that changes according to the annual median income trend and is influenced by the inflationary processes underway.
Eurispes, by means of a field study, has therefore identified the income levels of a young family and then related them to the expenses it has to face to provide for all its needs and to maintain a decent standard of living.