Middle Class Analysis in Some Countries ofCentral and Southeast Europe

Measuring the middle class is a rather difficult process.It is necessary to identify some objective criteria, such as the income level, the occupation, the level of education, but also some subjective criteria, such as the social category of the family or the origin environment.Another problem is related to the availability of data sources that allow us to classify a person into a certain social category.This paper aims to present a first, strictly quantitative perspective on measuring the middle class in Romania compared to other countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe, using the population income indicator.This paper provides a picture of income disparities in the analyzed countries, using indicators that capture income inequality, the size of the middle class and the degree of income polarization, providing clues about the difficulties the households in the analyzed area are facing with.