Available From UC Press

The Middle-Class New Deal

Restoring Upward Mobility and the American Dream
A. Mechele Dickerson

As seen on The Daily Show
“This book is music to my ears.”—Jon Stewart

A bold, accessible story about how the American middle class was built and what we can do to save it.

The American middle class didn’t happen by accident—it was built through government action in the wake of the Great Depression. But over the past forty years, many of those policies have been rolled back or weakened, leaving working families with less security and fewer opportunities to get ahead. What would it take to reverse course?

In The Middle-Class New Deal, A. Mechele Dickerson breaks down the changes in education, labor, housing, and consumer-credit policy that have steadily eroded the economic stability of lower- and middle-income Americans—especially people of color and those without college degrees. Blending the latest research with personal stories from her own family, Dickerson shows how local and federal politicians have disingenuously used rhetoric to mask how their policies consistently favor the privileged class. Clear and compelling, the book lays out a bold path to meaningfully rebuild the middle class and expand opportunity for everyday Americans.

A. Mechele Dickerson is Arthur L. Moller Chair in Bankruptcy Law and Practice at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and author of Homeownership and America’s Financial Underclass.
"We are at a moment of reckoning as a country, and this bold and ambitious book should be at the center of the conversation on what can be done to make the American Dream more realistic for the many—not just the few. The Middle-Class New Deal will build an army of converts and allies for the policy revolution Mechele Dickerson bravely champions."—Dorothy Brown, author of The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans—and How We Can Fix It

"Dickerson's book sounds the clarion call for the beleaguered middle class. In unblinking terms, she exposes how working families who once had adequate incomes increasingly must pay for their basic expenses with credit. The stability of those households—and our country—depends on heeding her call."—Patricia A. McCoy, author of Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-Being for All

"Powerfully argues that initiatives as bold and comprehensive as the New Deal are the only way to salvage a precarious middle class—and to ensure access for marginalized households historically excluded from gains. A must-read."—Chrystin Ondersma, author of Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice

"Through multidisciplinary research interspersed with compelling storytelling, Dickerson powerfully shows readers the public investments and policy choices that make—or too often break—the ability of American families to become financially stable and to flourish. In addition to documenting the challenges, The Middle-Class New Deal charts a feasible path forward, offering a menu of plans for policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels."—Melissa B. Jacoby, author of Unjust Debts: How Our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal
280 pp.6 x 9Illus: 8 b/w figures
9780520423398$24.95|£21.00Paper
Jan 2026