The fortunes of the middle classes across Western Europe are moving in different directions. Some nations are experiencing both growing incomes and expanding middle classes, while other nations are witness to stagnant or declining incomes and shrinking middle classes, a new Pew Research Center analysis of 11 Western European countries has found. But in a few other countries studied, the middle-class shares are decreasing even as incomes overall are rising.
The world’s third largest economy faces long-term challenges, including pessimistic forecasts from the Japanese public, the hollowing out of Japan’s working-age population and the nation’s exorbitant public debt.