Poverty and Jordan’s Middle Class

The vulnerability of 51% of Jordanians and the increasing reliance on migration and remittances demonstrate that the future of Jordan’s middle class depends upon education and job creation.

by Yasmeen Tabbaa

Today, much of the political discourse in Jordan focuses on the importance of the middle class as a stabilizing and reformist force in the country. Viewed as a source of skilled labor with potent purchasing power, the middle class has been variously described as having the entrepreneurial capabilities as well as the democratic tendencies necessary for Jordan’s economic and political development. At the same time, however, the current and future strength of the country’s middle class has been a source of concern for many.

For some time now, politicians and academics in Jordan have argued that the country’s middle class has been in steady decline for the last two decades. Some of the most commonly cited explanations for this drop include Jordan’s 1989 economic crash, the subsequent IMF-led structural adjustment programs promoting free market policies, the retreat of state services and safety nets, declining public sector wages, and the more recent rise in the cost of living. With concerns about Jordan’s middle class continuing to mount, the government committed to expand and protect this vital segment of the population in its 2010 Executive Agenda.