2 weeks ago
Breakpoint Review: India's Middle-Class Crisis and the Future of Work
A new book called 'Breakpoint' explains a big problem for India's middle class.
The middle class is made up of families who have some money, but not a lot.
They pay most of the taxes that keep the country running.
The book says many college graduates cannot find jobs, and salaries have not grown much.
At the same time, things have become more expensive, so families can buy less.
Smart computers called AI can now do some jobs that people used to do.
Some people are also losing money by trying to get rich fast in the stock market.
The book's writers say India needs new skills and new kinds of jobs to fix these problems.
The book is a warning, but it also hopes for a better future.
A new book, 'Breakpoint: The Crisis of the Middle Class and the Future of Work' by Saurabh Mukherjea with Nandita Rajhansa and Sapna Bhavsar, argues India's middle class is at a breakpoint.
The book defines the middle class as those earning Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1 crore annually (excluding agriculture), covering about 40 million tax returns or roughly 150-160 million people.
It highlights a 29% unemployment rate at the graduate level, stagnant wages, and inflation eroding real incomes for middle-class households.
The authors say AI and automation have made human workers less important and warn that finfluencer-fueled F&O trading and household consumption loans are increasing financial risk.
Reviewer Madan Sabnavis of Bank of Baroda calls the book hard-hitting yet optimistic, urging skill reorientation and meaningful job creation to resolve the consumption impasse.
- Who
- Saurabh Mukherjea wrote the book with co-authors Nandita Rajhansa and Sapna Bhavsar; the review is by Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
- What
- A hard-hitting book review arguing India's middle class is at a breakpoint due to high graduate unemployment (29%), stagnant wages, inflation, AI and automation displacing jobs, and rising household debt from consumption loans and F&O trading.
- Where
- India - the book analyzes Indian tax statistics, the labour market, and the stock market; it is published by Juggernaut.
- When
- The review is undated but references the 2025-26 tax cuts on direct and indirect taxes as recent context.
- Why
- The authors argue the middle class pays most direct and indirect taxes and drives consumption (60% of GDP), yet has been squeezed between subsidies for the poor and capex benefits for the rich, threatening the economy's future.
Key facts
- Book title
- Breakpoint: The Crisis of the Middle Class and the Future of Work
- Author
- Saurabh Mukherjea, with Nandita Rajhansa and Sapna Bhavsar
- Publisher
- Juggernaut
- Pages / Price
- 280 pages, Rs 799
- Middle-class income bracket
- Rs 5 lakh-Rs 1 crore annually (excluding agriculture)
- Middle-class size
- About 40 million tax returns, roughly 150-160 million people
- Graduate unemployment rate
- 29%
- Reviewer
- Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda
Sources
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