The term has returned to the center of public debate.
For several months, all political leaders have been making eyes at the middle classes.
This is particularly the case of Gabriel Attal, who sees them as “the beating heart of our country” and promises them a tax cut.
If everyone seeks to capture this electorate, it is above all because it is very important.
According to a study published by the Montaigne Institute on Wednesday, these “average French people” represent no less than half of the population of our country.
Indeed, they would be located between the most modest 30% and the richest 20%, two classes heirs respectively to the proletarian classes and the established bourgeoisie.
Also read Macron's announcements: 2 billion less taxes for the middle classes in 2025, but few details
But there is no real definition of this part of the population located at the center of the social scale.
As summarized by Lisa Thomas-Darbois, deputy director of French studies at the Institut Montaigne and author of the study, this “soft belly” is “neither elite, nor worker, nor bourgeois, nor anarchist, nor poor, nor rich ".
For the website of the Ministry of the Economy, which recalls that the notion of middle class is not the subject of a precise definition, "this concerns households whose standard of living is between two thirds and double the median standard of living.
Net income between 1,440 and 3,100 euros
If this category does not depend solely on the salary received, this criterion appears to be the most relevant to define whether one is part of it.
Furthermore, the Montaigne Institute does not speak of “middle class” in the singular but of “middle classes” in the plural, and makes them two distinct categories.
A lower middle class, with monthly net income of between 1,440 euros and 2,260 euros before tax and an upper middle class which receives between 2,260 euros and 3,100 euros in net income each month.
But for the influential liberal think tank, we do not define these categories solely by taking into account income.
According to him, the middle classes must be understood and analyzed through the prism of their sociological construction.
Moreover, reducing this “middle layer” to simple income excludes retirees and the unemployed from the equation.
Among the factors that must be taken into account, the Montaigne Institute also cites real estate assets or even the structure of expenses, in particular expenses constrained by incessant fear of social downgrading.