(AJC) — If the American middle class once offered dependable shelter, that haven now is shaky, leaky and uncertain. Experts disagree on why — and what happens next. But the old assumptions — that being middle class would mean a decent paycheck, job security, hope for owning a home, the far-off glow of a comfortable retirement — no longer hold. “One day we came in and they told us we were no longer needed,” said Omar Melton, a 37-year-old engineer from Atlanta who was laid off in October. “Blah, blah, blah — they gave us some movie tickets and let us go.”
