It's because [they]'re putting descriptions of her family in today's terms. When she was growing up, she was a member of the lower level of the upper class, based on the combined incomes of her parents. By today's standards, that same amount of income now puts a family squarely in the middle class. The average middle class family's income has risen to where the lower threshold is somewhere around $75K. The upper level of the middle class is somewhere around $175K. Her parents, being college professors, would've earned a combined income of between $100K-150K back in the 70's-90's, and would've made them upper class wage earners.
It's because [they]'re putting descriptions of her family in today's terms. When she was growing up, she was a member of the lower level of the upper class, based on the combined incomes of her parents. By today's standards, that same amount of income now puts a family squarely in the middle class. The average middle class family's income has risen to where the lower threshold is somewhere around $75K. The upper level of the middle class is somewhere around $175K. Her parents, being college professors, would've earned a combined income of between $100K-150K back in the 70's-90's, and would've made them upper class wage earners.