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Mechele Dickerson

@mecheledickerson.bsky.social
356 followers 119 following 38 posts

Law Prof @ Univ. of Texas & UT Faculty Athletics Rep. My book (www.ucpress.edu/books/the-middle-cl…) explains how we can save the middle class & restore upward mobility.

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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Attn: political leaders - affordability is the defining issue for young voters. Stagnant income, student loan debt, higher un/under-employment & unaffordable housing makes it hard for them to form their own households. Not great for them & awful for the economy. www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/afforda...
jchs.harvard.edu
Affordability Pressures and Fewer Young Adults Strain Household Formation
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
A recent poll shows 45% of young adults overall report to be struggling financially but that jumps to 57% for people w/o a college degree. Young adults have lost faith in the American Dream & most politicians haven’t noticed or maybe just don’t care. iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/l...
iop.harvard.edu
52nd Edition - Spring 2026
The Institute of Politics (IOP) at the Harvard Kennedy School was established in 1966 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
This piece perfectly captures my @ucpress.bsky.social publication experience—including braving the Feb. 2026 “Great Snowicaine” with Exec. Ed. Maura Roessner, family, friends & supporters from PressShopPR.com to make it to @thedailyshow.com: ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/employee-new...
ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu
UC Press book hits New York Times bestseller list after “Daily Show” spotlight | UCnet
Author and legal scholar Mechele Dickerson worked with UC Press to publish a New York Times bestselling book on the American middle class.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
I’ve been on shows with R, D, indy, progressive, center, conservative & libertarian hosts (@thedailyshow.com, @chadbensonshow.bsky.social, @johnfugelsang.bsky.social, @faithfulpolitics.bsky.social, @msignorile.bsky.social). One thing is clear: everybody knows we’ve failed the struggling middle class
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
I was so optimistic to see the 1st part of the headline, but quickly lost faith when I saw the word "challenges." Words like "hurdles" & "feud" (in the article) made me realize that the middle class will continue to struggle to find affordable housing. Oh well. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/u...
nytimes.com
Senate Resoundingly Passes Housing Bill, but Challenges Lie Ahead
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Absolutely overjoyed to see that my book has debuted at #5 on the New York Times list for new nonfiction!!! Please buy it, read it, and tell our political leaders to enact laws & policies that help restore the American middle-class. www.nytimes.com/books/best-s...
nytimes.com
Paperback Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - The New York Times
The New York Times Best Sellers are up-to-date and authoritative lists of the most popular books in the United States, based on sales in the past week, including fiction, non-fiction, paperbacks, chil...
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Affordability is not just the "political word of the moment" & isn't a hoax. As my book shows, even with a strong stock market, America’s middle class is struggling & angry b/c they can’t find good jobs, affordable housing or child care, or pay their bills on time. @geoffgarin.bsky.social
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
He explains how to destroy the middle class in a few easy steps. My book shows how to protect the middle class in a few easy steps: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
bookshop.org
The Middle-Class New Deal: Restoring Upward Mobility and the American Dream
Restoring Upward Mobility and the American Dream
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
My new book (www.ucpress.edu/books/the-mi...) explains why young adults can afford middle-class “stuff” but can't attain the markers of the middle class, like buying a home. Being financially fragile means they aren’t starting families. Not a hoax: this is a crisis. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/u...
nytimes.com
These Young Adults Make Good Money. But Life, They Say, Is Unaffordable.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Enjoyed talking w/ @fpwellman.bsky.social re: affordability, the middle class & my new book (www.ucpress.edu/books/the-mi...). The convo starts ~ 18:20: www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_48.... Spoiler: affordability isn’t a “hoax.” Middle-class folks are struggling b/c political leaders are ignoring them.
youtube.com
LIVE: Veteran RESPONDS to Trump’s WAR CRIMES
YouTube video by MeidasTouch
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
As I discuss in detail in my new book (www.ucpress.edu/books/the-mi...) on the middle-class, homeownership is slipping away from the middle-class. These families are struggling now just to find affordable rental housing. www.cbsnews.com/news/afforda...
cbsnews.com
More than 75% of homes across the U.S. are unaffordable, study finds
Homeownership can feel like a luxury when only a sliver of the country's housing market is affordable for most Americans, Bankrate analyst says.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
I note in this piece (& explain in more detail in my forthcoming book) that young adults are anxious & angry because they are struggling financially. Many wonder whether they will ever become (much less remain) middle class. businessinsider.com/millennial-e... via @businessinsider.com
businessinsider.com
Why millennials don't feel richer than boomers — even though they are
Rich millennials are doing OK, but they feel terrible about their finances and the economy. They're comparing themselves to peers and boomer parents.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Norms and rules matter. My hot-off-the-press article that explores the shattering of norms and procedural rules in 2020-2024 Trump-aligned cases predicted much of what we're now experiencing. www.utoledo.edu/law/law-revi...
utoledo.edu
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Why should politicians care about the #middleclass? As I argue in detail in my soon-to-be-published book with the @ucpress.bsky.social, we won't have a thriving economy if we don't have a strong middle class. Restoring the middle class is good for American families & for society overall.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Today's job news is awful. Even the anticipated interest rate cut won't help unemployed workers & recent college graduates find jobs soon enough to prevent them from suffering financially. It'll be years before lower/middle-income families recover from this administration's economic policies.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
66% of straight Repub men who don't have kids want kids someday. The challenge with reversing declining fertility rates? Only 43% of straight Dem men, 42% of R women & 38% of D women want kids. Liberal "single cat ladies" aren't the problem. The likely culprit? Financial precarity & uncertainty.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Lower- & middle-income families can't afford to buy homes in Austin & can't always afford the full cost to attend UT (neither are problems for rich Texans). Rich out-of-state families have found a loophole to get in-state tuition AND keep housing costs high near campus. www.kut.org/education/20...
kut.org
Wealthy families are buying homes to get in-state tuition at Texas universities
The practice has been accepted by public universities across the state. The law has fed a growing industry of families buying condos in cash, holding onto them for a couple years and then selling to t...
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Parents are struggling to find good jobs & reasonably priced care for their kids. US fertility/birthrates are at historic lows. The gov't says it wants more young adults to have kids, but is trying to gut convenient & affordable after-school & summer programs. Make it make sense. t.co/MdNlwTHvyk
t.co
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/us/trump-education-funds.html
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
On a mostly bipartisan basis, the Texas Leg just made it easier for cities to create smaller homes & multi-family units in mixed-use developments even if there's NIMBY opposition. It’s not perfect but it's at least a start to respond to the affordable housing crisis. www.pew.org/en/about/new....
pew.org
Pew Applauds Texas Lawmakers for Passage of Much-Needed Housing Legislation
WASHINGTON—The Pew Charitable Trusts today commended the Texas Legislature and Governor Greg Abbott (R) for enacting a suite of seven bills passed with bipartisan support and designed to improve housi...
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Young adults need stable/good paying jobs to be financially stable, but kudos to Texas legislators for passing (on a bipartisan basis) legislation to require a course in financial literacy & help young people hopefully avoid stupid financial decisions. www.texaspolicyresearch.com/bills/89th-l....
texaspolicyresearch.com
HB 27 - 89th Legislature Regular Session
Relating to courses in personal financial literacy and economics for high school students in public schools.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Rather than gut public education by eliminating the Dept of Ed or pushing private school vouchers, political leaders should support career and technical education programs that prepare students for in-demand middle-class jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Stop Trying to Make Everyone Go to College
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
The ideal of the American dream of upward mobility if you work hard & follow the rules doesn’t match the current reality. Middle-class families are struggling to make ends meet & their children may be even worse off than they are. Politicians: where are you? www.cbsnews.com/news/cost-of...
cbsnews.com
Most Americans don't earn enough to afford basic costs of living, analysis finds
The bottom 60% of U.S. households don't make enough money to afford a "minimal quality of life," according to a new analysis.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
City leaders must radically rethink their land use policies or America's middle class will forever struggle to find affordable housing (to rent or to buy). Tiny homes/ADUs can be both short- and long-term housing fixes. www.inc.com/sarah-sicard...
inc.com
How Tiny Homes Could Solve a Big Problem for Los Angeles
As L.A. rebuilds homes lost to wildfires, accessory dwelling units have emerged as a win-win solution for homeowners and city planners.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
To save the middle-class, all cities should consider creating an “Infrastructure Academy” that partners with unions & community colleges to provide skills training & child care that will prepare non-college workers for careers that pay living wages. www.statesman.com/story/news/e...
statesman.com
How a new Infrastructure Academy could help meet Austin workforce gaps, deliver high wages
Mayor Watson, ACC and Workforce Solutions' Infrastructure Academy will launch with a career fair Wednesday to help meet Austin's high demand for jobs.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
At long last, my book that explores why so many lower/middle-income people struggle to become & remain middle-class will be published in early 2026. Given current economic trends & political realities, I’m sadly confident that this book will be relevant for the foreseeable future.
The cover for this book is green (representing money) and has a a faint vertical ladder in the background that represents upward mobility. The ladder leads to horizontal 4 separate pictures of a piggy bank, diploma and mortarboard, house and two people shaking hands. The pictures represent the markers of the middle class (savings, a college degree, homeownership, and having a good job) and what is generally viewed as the American Dream of success.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Like @dalie.bsky.social, I'm excited to attend the @brooklynlawschool.bsky.social symposium & discuss my forthcoming book for the very first time with an amazing group of scholars! Registration and full agenda here: www.brooklaw.edu/news-and-eve...
brooklaw.edu
Brooklyn Law School - Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law Annual Symposium: Debt in the Real World
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Apprenticeships use an “earn-while-you-learn” model to give young workers skills (but no crippling student loan debt) to help them get middle-class jobs. This apprenticeship program also helps alleviate a critical “Texas-sized” nursing shortage. www.texastribune.org/2025/02/17/t...
texastribune.org
How a South Texas community college embraced apprenticeships to ease a growing nursing shortage
South Texas College in McAllen launched one of the first registered nursing apprenticeships in the country as area hospitals expect the need for nurses to increase.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
To increase the supply of affordable housing, cities must review all building codes to ensure regulations (for ex. 2 required stairways in buildings 3 floors+) are still needed given safety features (like sprinklers & fire-rated walls) mandated in new buildings. www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-...
pewtrusts.org
Small Single-Stairway Apartment Buildings Have Strong Safety Record
Policymakers could increase the supply of multifamily housing in their states and localities by revising outdated building codes that require more than one stairway in small apartment buildings. If en...
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
These firings are going to gut the middle-class workforce. Lots of reasons the IRS is targeted. But let's not ignore that of the roughly 90,000 employees nationwide: non-Whites constitute 56% and women are 65% www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/p...
nbcphiladelphia.com
Hundreds of Philly IRS workers laid off on Thursday, union says
Hundreds of Philadelphia IRS employees were laid off on Thursday as part of the Trump administration's efforts to cut down the size of the federal workforce, a union leader confirmed with NBC10.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
When middle-class federal workers were furloughed during the 2018-2019 gov't shutdown, many had to borrow from friends/family, sell things on eBay, or use GoFundMe just to make ends meet. Can't even imagine what they'll have to do if they are fired on (cruelly) short notice.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
About 3 weeks after the Nov 2024 election, I started viewing political announcements using this lens of “will this make things easier or harder for lower- & middle-income families to become and remain middle class?” Harder is still winning by a landslide.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
I am thankful I am not spending Thanksgiving being forced to enter into agreements “not to discuss” the things that matter most to me.
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Mechele Dickerson @mecheledickerson.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
I have been viewing most recent political "announcements" using this lens: will this make it easier or harder for lower- & middle-income families to become and remain middle class. So far harder is winning by a landslide.
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