A recent review highlights how wage stagnation, rising debt, and job insecurity are reshaping India’s middle class, with potential long-term implications for growth and social mobility.
India’s middle class, long celebrated as the chief beneficiary of the country’s post-1991 liberalisation, is now facing a far less comfortable reality. In a review published by The Hindu BusinessLine, Saurabh Mukherjea, Nandita Rajhansa and Sapana Bhavsar’s book, “Break Point: The Crisis of the Middle Class and the Future of Work”, is described as a serious and often тревbling examination of how wage stagnation, debt and job insecurity are squeezing households that once seemed securely on the path to prosperity.
The book argues that the strain is not confined to the lower end of the income ladder. It says Indians earning as little as ₹6 lakh a year, as well as those on roughly ₹50 lakh, are feeling the pressure. After analysing income-tax data, the authors place the middle class at those earning between ₹5 lakh and ₹1 crore, estimating that this group numbers about 40 million. They also say that this segment supports another 200 million people through demand for domestic help, drivers and other services, making it a crucial engine of both consumption and employment.
One of the book’s central warnings is that education no longer guarantees upward mobility in the way it once did. The authors point to unemployment among educated Indians running at 30%, around three times the rate among the uneducated, and they say the software and IT sector, which drew so many middle-class ambitions over the past two decades, has plateaued. They also flag concerns over the quality of engineering graduates, even from top institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, and say there is a widening mismatch between what industry wants and what engineering colleges teach.
The book also links middle-class stress to finance and social media. According to the review, household debt is rising as wages fail to keep pace with lifestyle expectations, while influencers have helped drive retail trading in futures and options, despite repeated cautions from the market regulator, SEBI. The authors argue that this pattern has been especially damaging in smaller cities, where the lure of quick gains has met limited financial literacy and growing anxiety about keeping up.
On policy, the authors suggest the government has begun to recognise the scale of the problem, citing income-tax cuts, GST rationalisation and lower policy rates as steps that could support consumption. But they also argue that the post-1991 economic model is losing force and that the state’s recent capital-spending push has not produced enough jobs because of its capital-intensive nature. Their longer-term case is more forward-looking: artificial intelligence may destroy many white-collar roles, but it will also create new ones, and the growth of global capability centres and small businesses could open fresh opportunities. Their conclusion is cautious rather than bleak. The old comfort of a corporate job may fade, they say, but entrepreneurship could become the next great engine of middle-class advancement.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
