Posted on 10/04/2011 8:04:13 AM PDT by bkopto
How in the world does the average American family survive in this economy? The median household income is a little bit less than $50,000 a year right now.
So let's call that about $4000 a month. But before any of that money gets spent, you have to take out at least $1000 in taxes. That leaves about $3000 a month to pay all the bills with.
With that $3000 you have to pay the mortgage (or rent), make the car payments, make the student loan payments, pay for power and water, pay for health insurance, pay for home insurance, pay for car insurance, pay the phone bill, pay the Internet bill and pay the cable bill.
On top of all that, every member of the family needs three meals a day and the cars need to be filled up with gasoline or they won't go anywhere.
Of course I haven't even mentioned expenses that don't happen every month such as car repairs or new shoes. No wonder so many families are feeling so financially stressed!
(Excerpt) Read more at theeconomiccollapseblog.com ...
The truth is that American families are getting squeezed harder than they have been in ages. The number of good jobs is declining, incomes are going down, and the cost of living just keeps going up.
The following are 17 facts that prove that the average American family is getting absolutely pulverized by this economy....
#1 The cost of a health insurance policy for the average American family rose by a whopping 9 percent last year. According to a report put out by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, the average family health insurance policy now costs over $15,000 a year.
How in the world can most families afford that? Yes, in many cases employers are paying for at least a portion of that, but still that seems absolutely outrageous.
#2 Due to rising costs, a lot of employers are completely getting rid of health plans for their employees. In fact, the percentage of Americans covered by employer-based health plans has fallen for 11 years in a row.
#3 The number of uninsured Americans continues to rise. Things have gotten so bad that an all-time record 49.9 million Americans do not have any health insurance at all.
#4 At this point, most American families are tapped out financially. According to the U.S. Labor Department, incomes and spending were both down for the second straight year in 2010.
#5 At the same time, the employment picture continues to look worse with each passing month. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of layoffs in the United States was up 14 percent in August.
#6 Even if you do have a job that doesn't mean that you are doing much more than surviving. According to Paul Osterman, a professor of economics at MIT, approximately 20 percent of all employed Americans are making $10.65 an hour or less.
#7 The amount of debt that the average American family has piled up is absolutely staggering. The median yearly wage in the United States is just $26,261, but the average American household is carrying $75,600 in debt.
#8 Consumer confidence is extremely low right now. If the U.S. economy was in good shape, the Consumer Confidence Index would be up around 90. Instead, it is sitting at 45.4.
#9 Nearly every recent survey shows that the American people are feeling really depressed about the economy right now. In fact, one poll found that 80 percent of them believe that we are actually in a recession right now.
#10 Many consumers are seriously starting to cut back on spending again, and that is not a good sign for the U.S. economy. According to one recent study, 40 percent of all Americans have cut back on their spending within the last 60 days.
#11 It certainly does not help that millions of good jobs have been shipped out of the country. Sadly, the trend of offshoring our jobs is going to continue to accelerate if something is not done. According to Professor Alan Blinder of Princeton University, 40 million more U.S. jobs could be sent offshore over the next two decades.
#12 There is a lot of fear in the workforce right now. According to Gallup, 30 percent of all employed Americans are worried that they will be laid off soon.
#13 Today, there are 5.9 million Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 that are living with their parents. That is putting an even greater strain on the budgets of many families.
#14 American families have gotten very accustomed to using plastic to pay for things. Today, the average U.S. household has 13 different credit cards.
#15 Many American families are not making it at all in this economy. Last year, 2.6 million more Americans dropped into poverty. That was the largest increase that we have seen since the U.S. government began keeping statistics on this back in 1959.
#16 For many American families, living on food stamps has become a way of life. Today, there are more than 45 million Americans on food stamps and we keep setting a brand new record almost every single month.
#17 Things have gotten so bad that many American families are selling off whatever they can in order to survive. For example, down in Florida hundreds of people have been selling off their burial plots in an attempt to raise cash. The following is an excerpt from a local news report about this new trend....
Sellers are posting online, using burial plot brokers, and also funeral homes to market the real estate. Some of those advertisements show single plots starting at about $1,000, while family plots can go for up to $50,000.
Most American families are living in a state of almost constant financial stress. Way too many parents are spending way too many sleepless nights wondering how in the world they will be able to keep their heads above water for another month.
Very few families seem to have "extra money" for stuff these days. Yeah, there are the "privileged few", but most people are really struggling to get by.
In America today, if you are able to keep your home from being foreclosed and you are able to put food on the table and clothes on the backs of your family then you are doing pretty good.
Sadly, as our current economic crisis deepens, the average American family is going to have an even more difficult time trying to survive financially.
The article's full title: 17 Facts That Prove That The Average American Family Is Getting Absolutely Pulverized By This Economy
by design of comrade obama.
Soooooo, how is the average no apparent parent welfare household doing?
ZERO’S FAULT.
Probably better than ever!
No health insurance in my house, I just spent the summer paying for a couple of years worth of overdue property taxes to get my home out of foreclosure.
And now I have the state garnishing my revenue to pay for overly excessive medical bills forced upon me for my son that was removed from my household because we couldn’t pay to put him in special treatment for his autism, so the state comes in and does it anyway, now they have a lien against everything I own while I am covertly transferring ownership of most to another family member.
And I am being laid off very soon for several months.
Last week I had some massive amounts of blood in my urine and I could not work yesterday nor today but I will try in a little bit, I won’t go to a doctor because even the smallest bill would wipe out my meager savings to get through the winter.
But unlike some who take the easy way out I have an agenda, I have goals and I won’t stop until I correct the mistakes of those that disrupted my like and is trying to kill me.
They are not trying to kill me like holding a gun to my head, no by the actions of certain agencies they pushed me into working harder, not spending money for medical treatment because frankly I just don’t have it because they are garnishing it, its a deadly cycle with an uncertain outcome, I pray that should I do pass away for some sudden reason others like me will continue to repair the broken corrupt systems trying to nannycise American families.
People need to stop voting Democrat for, say, about 15 years to address this.
People need to stop voting Democrat for, say, about 15 years to address this.
Obongo couldn't arrange a child's birthday party. Besides it took decades to reduce America to this pitiful condition. It required the concerted effort of all these men-
Not long enough. I think we need more than 15 years to re educate America.
There is no middle class in an Inner Party/Outer Party (proletariat) system.
They are doing better. They are getting redistributed income to them from those being taken down (the productive).
And forget it if you are self employed... the numbers just don’t add up...
You should see someone - the bleeding could be coming from a bladder or kidney cancer, especially if it is painless bleeding.
The average family has 13 different credit cards? I am in doubt about some of the facts in this article.
Not that American families aren’t in a bad way.
correct.
that’s what it is all about.
left and right.
prole and rich.
http://confoundedinterest.wordpress.com
Look at the numbers. OF COURSE THE AVERAGE FAMILY IS GETTING HOSED!
And those idiots all contributed to our current peril.
And no, we have not "lived outside our means". Our means now do not cover what American Socialism has wrought on us.
****Sadly, as our current economic crisis deepens, the average American family is going to have an even more difficult time trying to survive financially. ****
Sounds like what has happened to my worthless Brother-in-law (If you know him he probably owes you money).
Thirty four years ago I landed a good job, and found that another similar plant would be opening near here. I called my BIL and told him to go an apply as he claimed he was qualified for such a job.
His answer was...”I don’t want to do that kind of work!” Being lazy, he never worked another day in his life, relying on working the VA and other welfare programs. He always felt others OWED him a living.
He filed bankruptcy last year and is about to lose his house, and it is all “someone else’s fault”!
Needless to say, he is an Obama supporter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.