# India’s middle-class crisis: the great bifurcation and the Gen Z uprising
**Date de l'événement :** 08/09/2026
* Publié le 08/09/2026

### Image
![shutterstock_2808867577_vyhv9_yzvcl.png](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/memory-sp-pr.appspot.com/o/prod%2F1y7CgDOTakHDiB3dgoi0%2FprojectsMedias%2FNQRMiyhrJ454dGBtvuBf%2Fthumbs%2Fshutterstock_2808867577_vyhv9_yzvcl_1600x900.png?alt=media&token=1a251f49-1a03-48c8-aec7-bb38de16472a) 

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**The student protests we have been witnessing in India can be explained in large part by the crisis facing the Indian middle class, marked in particular by graduate unemployment and a decline in average purchasing power. This is because the upper middle class has grown wealthier, while the lower-middle class has become poorer.**  
  
Until the mid-2010s, the idea that India’s middle class was destined to expand continuously seemed self-evident. India had enjoyed double-digit growth during the decade from 2004 to 2014 under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the architect of the economic liberalisation of the 1990s driven by the IT sector and foreign investment. The middle class was expanding at that time thanks to the growth of new skilled jobs. This momentum led to the emergence of a social group comprising corporate executives, engineers, IT professionals and entrepreneurs. This middle class defined itself by its income, its consumption capacity, and a social ethos often associated with the higher castes – particularly evident in its opposition to affirmative action policies.  
  
However, this category has remained difficult to measure, as the criteria used vary widely among organisations: income, consumption, wealth, educational level, type of housing, white-collar employment, or subjective self-identification. In the 2010s, several estimates fuelled the notion of a spectacular rise of the Indian middle class. In 2012, the NCAER estimated that it comprised approximately 142 million people, or nearly 12% of the population. Other researchers, using broader criteria, estimated it at 20% of the population. On this basis, firms such as Ernst & Young, McKinsey, and Goldman Sachs predicted rapid growth in this segment, with some even forecasting several hundred million members by 2025–2040.  
  
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→ [Cliquez ici pour lire cet article en français](https://sources.sciencespo.fr/content/2026-08-01/inde-la-crise-de-la-classe-moyenne-nourrit-la-colere-etudiante_HdXQ5LCXskmik5v6awoc).

**Pour lire l'article complet, cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous :** [https://theconversation.com/indias-middle-class-crisis-the-great-bifurcation-and-the-gen-z-uprising-289061](https://theconversation.com/indias-middle-class-crisis-the-great-bifurcation-and-the-gen-z-uprising-289061)

## Auteur(s)
Christophe Jaffrelot

### Date
08/09/2026

### Type(s) de ressource
`#Texte` 

### Discipline(s)
`#Science politique` 

### Thématique(s)
`#Travail / relations professionnelles / emploi` `#Économies` 

### Aire(s) géographique(s)
`#Asie` 

### Langue(s)
`#Anglais` 

## Crédits photo
PradeepGaurs / Shutterstock

### Licence attribuée à l'article
`#CC-BY-ND (Attribution; Pas de modification)` 

### Famille(s) de contenu
`#Recherche` 

### Type(s) d'accès
`#Accès libre` 

### Partenaire(s)
**[The Conversation](https://sources.sciencespo.fr/structure/the-conversation_QdYqgYnzKVyePLgMp3g8)** 


### Hébergeur(s)
`#The Conversation` 

## Autres crédits
**Topic of the photograph:** New Delhi, India – June 20, 2026: Standing on stage, Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), delivers a speech to his supporters during a public rally. Participants raise their hands and chant slogans calling for transparency in exams, education reforms, government accountability, and more job opportunities for young people.

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