Mechele Dickerson
@mecheledickerson.bsky.social
Law Prof @ Univ. of Texas & UT Faculty Athletics Representative. Coming in Jan 2026: a book (I wrote it) that explains how to save the middle class & restore upward mobility: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-middle-class-new-deal/
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...
www.utoledo.edu
November 15, 2025 at 6:50 PM
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...
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.
Being middle class once granted financial security, even a measure of comfort. The ability to buy a house. Enough left over to take an occasional vacation, maybe help their kids with college. But those days are gone.
Today, the middle class is being hollowed out.
Today, the middle class is being hollowed out.
Why the middle class is disappearing in Massachusetts
The middle class in Massachusetts is being hollowed out. Driving the squeeze is a stratospheric rise in inequality.
trib.al
November 15, 2025 at 4:45 AM
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.
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.
Look at broader measures of unemployment—including people who want a job but aren't in the labor force & people who are working part-time but want a full-time job—and the labor market is in the worst place since the pandemic
September 5, 2025 at 2:11 PM
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.
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.
August 12, 2025 at 6:14 PM
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.
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...
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...
www.kut.org
July 2, 2025 at 3:09 PM
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...
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
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/us/trump-education-funds.html
t.co
July 2, 2025 at 1:16 PM
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
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 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...
www.pew.org
June 30, 2025 at 5:18 PM
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....
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....
HB 27 - 89th Legislature Regular Session
Relating to courses in personal financial literacy and economics for high school students in public schools.
www.texaspolicyresearch.com
June 30, 2025 at 1:35 PM
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....
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...
Opinion | Stop Trying to Make Everyone Go to College
www.nytimes.com
May 17, 2025 at 4:00 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.cbsnews.com
May 16, 2025 at 5:09 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.inc.com
April 3, 2025 at 3:25 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.statesman.com
March 27, 2025 at 1:48 PM
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...
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.
March 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
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.
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...
Registration and full agenda here: www.brooklaw.edu/news-and-eve...
Brooklyn Law School - Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law Annual Symposium: Debt in the Real World
www.brooklaw.edu
March 11, 2025 at 9:35 PM
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...
Registration and full agenda here: www.brooklaw.edu/news-and-eve...
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...
www.texastribune.org/2025/02/17/t...
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.
www.texastribune.org
March 4, 2025 at 4:11 PM
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...
www.texastribune.org/2025/02/17/t...
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-...
www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-...
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...
www.pewtrusts.org
February 28, 2025 at 2:58 PM
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-...
www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-...
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...
www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/p...
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.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com
February 21, 2025 at 1:49 PM
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...
www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/p...
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.
February 17, 2025 at 4:07 PM
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.
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.
February 13, 2025 at 2:58 PM
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.
I am thankful I am not spending Thanksgiving being forced to enter into agreements “not to discuss” the things that matter most to me.
November 27, 2024 at 3:39 PM
I am thankful I am not spending Thanksgiving being forced to enter into agreements “not to discuss” the things that matter most to me.
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.
November 23, 2024 at 2:34 PM
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.