This book investigates the persistent misconception that the American working class has vanished or been absorbed into a monolithic middle class. Andrew Levison, a researcher and writer specializing in labor and social policy, challenges conventional political wisdom by analyzing census data and economic trends. He argues that the working class remains a substantial majority of the population and that political strategies ignoring this demographic are fundamentally flawed.

Experts frequently cite this work as a critical counter-narrative to the decline of the labor movement discourse. Readers often note the clarity of the author's data presentation, which serves as a foundational text for understanding contemporary class dynamics.