It is very much an American phenomenon calling factory workers  Middle Class. Elsewhere in the world the middle class refers to members of the professions - doctors, lawyers, academics, politicians, senior civil servants, successful managers of medium and large businesses. To be middle class refers to <i>working</i> people of usually very high non-manual skill, high cultural and societal status, and usually university educated. The middle class might not own the country, but they certainly run it.<p>A factory worker in say France, UK or Germany is member of the working class, and in terms of their skill, status, and economic and political power aren&#x27;t really distinguishable from a US factory worker.