The US middle class, from what I've seen, has the issue of having enough income to hang themselves with credit cards, mortgages, and auto loans. Paycheck to paycheck in the suburbs. Low income (I prefer this to poor, for reasons previously stated), just have to deal for the most part. They can get really bad credit products, but that tends to become a really quick and limiting meat grinder. The middle class can carry on for their entire careers and end up like boomers now, where something like 50% of them have zero savings in retirement.

Well, I guess there is some truth to that. Both the poor and the rich have lots of leisure time.

100%. Especially in SE Asia, the working classes read more than any social class in the West does.