When revenue problems forced the Central Community Schools in DeWitt, Iowa, to cut back on expenses, Amanda Greubel and her husband, Josh, who both work at the schools, kept their jobs but lost $10,000 a year in income. With a five-year-old and another child due in December, a mortgage and student loans to pay, their life has changed dramatically.

Greubel, director of the Family Resource Center for Central Community Schools, told a  Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing today what life is like in the day-to-day world of middle-class Americans struggling in this economy. The hearing was aptly titled, Stories from the Kitchen Table: How Middle Class Families are Struggling to Make Ends Meet. Said Greubel:

 Sometimes the grocery money runs out before payday, and then we have to be creative with what we have in the cupboards until we get paid again. My son ends up eating more cold cereal at dinnertime than I care to admit.

 It means that most of our clothing now comes from Goodwill, garage sales, or clearance racks. This past spring our son was hospitalized for three days, resulting in $1,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses. This month a problem with our roof required $1,500 in repairs. Even though we’d been setting aside a little money each month for medical expenses and home repairs, we weren’t prepared enough and have spent the last few months catching up.

The situation for the Greubels, who both have master’s degrees and are both working, is common, said Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). Bernstein is the former chief economic adviser to Vice President Biden and former executive director of the White House Taskforce on the Middle Class.   

He says income that was stagnant during the early 2000s fell steeply in 2007 when the Great Recession began and have stayed down. At the same time, costs for the basic essentials like health care, food, gas and housing have grown. The combination of less income and more expenses has put a squeeze on the middle class.

Bernstein said we need policies to protect retirement security, provide affordable health care, support college tuitions and, most of all, create new jobs.

Other witnesses included filmmaker Susan Sipprelle and Louisiana businessman Thomas Clements.

Greubel, who is celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary today, said she came to Washington “on behalf of the families who truly need your help, the families who have lost their jobs, their health insurance, their homes, and their hope for things to get better.

If my family with two master’s degrees is struggling, you can imagine how difficult things are for many others.

Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) summed up the issue saying:

Over the last 30 years that strong middle class has been disappearing. I am convinced that we need to do more to help reverse these long-term trends and rebuild our middle class. Simply put: there can be no real economic recovery without the recovery of the middle class.

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