By ALICIA WALLACE

Earlier this month, social media was abuzz with commentary on the “How Much Does It Cost to Be Middle Class in The Bahamas”, a study by Leslie Archer published in the International Journal of Bahamian Studies, Volume 30. Scores of people flooded the comments and shared on their own pages with reactions to the study, immediately rejecting it without, in many cases, reading even the abstract of the article. They were so shocked and offended by the stated dollar amount that they made assumptions of the study, deciding that their own experience and the ways the have learned to classify themselves meant that the study was flawed and the results were incorrect. Reading and understanding the article, however, would lead people to a different conclusion.

The research question, laid out in the Rationale is “How much does it cost to sustain a middle-class life in The Bahamas?” This seems simple enough. Without giving it much thought, this is a question for which the average person may think they have an answer, and that their answer would not be far off from the one. That is because the question, as clearly as it is stated, can be misinterpreted, by no fault of the author, as “How much does a middle-class person (or family) in The Bahamas spend to survive?” These are two very different questions. The latter may, in fact, be a simpler one. The former, however, is not as simple as determining and costing basic needs.

When graphics were shared on social media to draw attention to the article, different terms from those used in the article were used. This is not unusual for social media, or even news media, but it is was an unfortunate choice that confused almost every person who commented on the post. It presented the foundational question of the research as a completely different question, and the one for which people already think they have the answer. The graphic said, “Key findings: a family of four needs approx $10,600 monthly in New Providence.” This does not, at all, represent the data provided in the article, nor does it reflect the research question or the purpose of the research. It does not reference the middle class which is a key factor.

When it seems as though a research study or its findings are flawed, it is important to return to the research question. It is entirely possible that the study is not about what the reader assumed, expected, or wanted. Paying attention to the exact language used in the question is critical to understanding the study.

“How much does it cost to sustain a middle-class life in The Bahamas?” is not the same as a question about the minimum expenditure of the household or the amount of money spent on necessities. It specifically refers to “a middle-class life”. It is not the same as a question about income level. It is a question that is specific to the lifestyle that is considered to be middle class and the amount of money required to maintain that lifestyle. It is not, then, about simply having a car, but about the type of car. It is not simply about providing children with an education, but providing a particular quality of education which includes certain infrastructure and a particular social atmosphere.

The article “seeks to clarify the extent to which living costs between the middle and working classes differ” which is quite useful because it corrects the assumption that any study of the middle class must focus on income. While income may determine the ability to pay, it does not predict or necessarily put a limit—upper or lower—on the cost of the lifestyle people choose. It is possible for a middle class household to have a lifestyle that keeps its living costs at the same level as that of the working class, but it has the ability to choose a different lifestyle that comes at higher costs. This does not mean there is a higher cost of living in general, on the national level, but that there is a higher cost to living the lifestyle to which middle class people and households aspire until they get there and are the determined to (at least) maintain.

The article also states that there is “research attention towards ‘decent standards of living’ as valued by the middle class”. Here it is made clear that the study is not only about minimum cost and/or affordability, but about what the middle class values. Archer also clearly states that the study “focuses only on determining the cost of acquiring and maintaining certain middle-class status symbols in The Bahamas”. Returning to the research question with this information, we can see that the study is, in fact, about the cost for middle class households to sustain a life in which they have a standard of living that affords them the assets, experiences, and appearances that they value.

The classification of middle class is not limited to the single factor of income. The same can be said about general cost. The graphic posted which drew the attention of social media users said, “Key findings: a family of four needs approx $10,600 monthly in New Providence.” People who were shocked by the amount, of course, questioned the definition of “need.” There were arguments in the comments of shared posts about what constitutes a need, missing the fact that this study is not at all about basic needs. In the same way, it is not about meeting the needs at the same cost as household of other classes. The middle class has ideas about itself and the way it wants to be perceived by others, hence the reference in the study to status symbols. There is a reason, of course, that so many aspire to be a part of the middle class.

Interestingly, the article noted that classifications have the effect of “[drawing] tension with those possessing different behaviours, attitudes, and access to products and related benefits.” This was demonstrated in the social media discourse. It was not difficult to see that the greatest discomfort that most people had was with the realisation that they are not, regardless of their income and what they may have previously thought, in the middle class. They may be able to pay their bills, mostly on time, and acquire some of the goods and services they want, but they do not have $10,600 per month and, even more important than (not) having that amount of money, they do not have the ability to build an emergency fund or save consistently, and they do not live in the areas or style of housing that comes at a higher price.

The public discourse about this study highlight several truth about Bahamians and the way we consume and respond to information. People are generally prepared to believe titles and attention-grabbing sentences and that they are representative of an entire article. Many people are generally unwilling to read the entire article for themselves. People often make up their minds about an article before reading it and are not prepared to accept the new information as reasons to change their minds or consider a different point of view. People are also very committed to the idea that there are middle class, regardless of evidence to the contrary. People will often prove the point of an article in their response to it, but refuse to admit that it is true.

The University of The Bahamas is producing research that is useful for legislating, policymaking, and program development. It is important that we support the efforts of the faculty who see needs and do the work to meet them. There is always a demand for more data, and we are starting to get more of it which can inform our actions at the individual, household, local, and national levels in The Bahamas. We need to engage with research with an openness to learning while using critical thinking skills. We also need spaces to engage in conversations about new data and what it means for us. Social media rarely lends itself to the kind of productive discussion we need and, as has been made obvious, enjoy. It is a great benefit to have more knowledge production in The Bahamas, and it will be even more beneficial when we learn how to engage with it and each other to productive ends.

RECCOMENDATIONS

1. How to Die Alone. This television show streaming on Hulu was created by Natasha Rothwell who also starts as Mel, a JFK airport employee who is afraid of flying, does not have much money, and has never had romantic love in her life. In the first episode, she has a near-death experience that challenges her thinking and makes her want to live more fully. Throughout the eight-episode season, Mel wonders if she should travel, considers her dating life and the man whose love she refused, and struggles in her most treasured friendship and her family life. Natasha Rothwell is known for her role as Kelli, the hilarious friend in the popular HBO series Insecure and tweeting the forty-fifth president of the US every day during his four-year term to let him know he was, and this is a direct quote, “trash”.

2. Global 16 Days Campaign events. Check out the Equality Bahamas Global 16 Days Campaign event lineup at lu.ma/16days24. The Global 16 Days Campaign started in 1991 with a group of activists, and UN Women since launched its 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, using the same dates and concept. The 16-day period begins on November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and closed on December 10, Human Rights Day. Equality Bahamas is hosting events throughout the entire period, starting with a conversation with Soraya Chemaly, author of The Resilience Myth, about the ideas that are imposed upon us about the need for individual strength and ability to bounce back, and the better concept of building communities that we can rely on and do not require us to ignore and push past trauma in order to keep going. This conversation is virtual and open to the general public, Monday, November 25, at 6pm EDT. Register at tiny.cc/16daysmyth. See the full event lineup at lu.ma/16days24.