Posted on 09/02/2018 9:33:46 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
By virtually any yardstick, the U.S. economy is doing great. Unemployment is near a two-decade low. The stock market is strong. Corporate profits are at record highs.
Yet a report out this week finds that almost half of Americans are having trouble paying for basic needs such as food and housing.
The Urban Institute, a left-leaning Washington think tank, surveyed more than 7,500 adults about their experience making ends meet. It found that about 40% of people ages 18 to 64 faced some sort of hardship last year.
Its certainly surprising and disconcerting that so many people are having difficulty meeting their basic needs, said Michael Karpman, a research associate at the Urban Institute and coauthor of the report.
What we found is that a lot of people have to devote much of their income to fixed expenses like rent or healthcare, he told me. If theyre hit with a large, unexpected expense, they simply cant cover it.
The stats become more troubling the deeper you drill down. More than 35% of families with at least one working adult reported difficulty meeting at least one basic need last year.
Almost a quarter of Americans experienced food insecurity, which is to say they didnt always know if theyd be able to eat if they were hungry.
A staggering 18% faced issues paying medical bills, and nearly as large a percentage reported skipping treatment for an ailment because they couldnt afford it.
Slightly more than 10% of Americans missed a rental or mortgage payment. Thirteen percent couldnt pay a utility bill.
While much of these economic woes were concentrated among lower-income households, the Urban Institute found that many middle-class families also struggled to pay their bills.
About 20% of middle-class people are having trouble, mostly with healthcare, Karpman said.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
They can’t make it on $50-80K??????????????????? That’s sooooo far above what we live debt free on that I can’t even imagine what I’d spend it all on. Of course, we don’t have bling, new vehicles, a pile of fast food in the trash, the latest i-phone (old shared flip phone does the job), and we’re not out partying every weekend. Hubby had surgery this year and later more bills for complications and we managed to pay it off so don’t give me that hooey. Our Trump tax cut was a whopping $25/mo. which doesn’t cover the increased electric bill. Nearly 4 months’ income goes straight to property tax thanks to the Californians who invaded and never met a tax proposal they don’t like.
Every time the min wage is increased, it devalues money so they’re further behind than they were before.
I wonder what the percentage of people "couldn't make ends meet" during Obama's depression if measured by the same standards.
... because of Obamacare. Free stuff for all is destroying me.
No money to spare for more free stuff. Sorry, all tapped out.
The Economy is about one year into the REAL recovery after 8 years of an economy that was only comparable to the Great Depression under Obama and NOW they’re suddenly crying people can’t make ends meet? Where they hell have they been for the last decade?
Food stamp rolls are shrinking as are disability rolls. That would seem to contradict their claims about how bad things are now. They were obviously much worse a few years ago when they didn’t utter a peep about it. Gee, I wonder why.
Jeez. These people would complain about the type of rope I’d lynch them with.
The Urban Institute, a left-leaning Washington think tank,...
surveyed more than 7,500 adults about their experience making ends meet. It found that about 40% of people ages 18 to 64...
faced some sort of hardship last year.
.
.
Oh waaaaaaah, some sort of hardship.
I didn’t know there was supposed to be some guarantee against some sort of hardship.
I wonder how many of these people have smart phones that cost in excess of $200,
Or rate planes over $50?
How many have cable or satellite tv?
Or TV’s over 31”?
I wonder how many of them have a car over 10 years old?
I wonder how many of them stock a pantry?
I wonder how many of them work an extra part time job, on top of their full time job?
Whoa, that must have hurt for the LAT to admit. I see, though, that as usual with a Republican in the White House, the standard has been moved back to perfection and anything less is simply unacceptable. This wouldn't be as obnoxious if they applied this to 0bama's administrations as well, but everything was perfect then.
I haven't paid a penny in Credit Card interest for over 15 years. Everything I own, 13 year old truck, home, etc is paid for with the exception of my newest Harley. I've been retired for 2 1/2 years and still put money in savings every month.
Yeah right. And when I go into the 7-11 or other similar establishments I have to wait for some the the same people described in this article to lay down 10, 20 or more dollars for government encouraged games of chance called the “Lottery” (and don’t ya know it is for the children and their education). When responsible adults are able to again take charge of our culture, we will may have a chance.
Actually, foodstamp usage has dropped by over 8 million from its high in 2013,
ALL while our population has grown by about 12 million, from the same time
My wife and I are 76. One thing we enjoy on the way home from a shopping trip is a McDonalds ice cream cone. A week ago two cones were $2.16. Yesterday it was $2.54. Yeah, big deal ...38 cents. To me it is symbolic as to what will be happening to fixed income seniors. If everything went up by that percentage, then the senior demographic is screwed with this bright new and exciting economy. McDonalds had an across the board price increase by the way. But I hope Mr Trump is keeping this voting block in mind.
It’s now our fault that a lot of people don’t live within their means?
And under Bush and Zero, things were peachy? Nope. America survived 16 years; first under false conservatism then under socialist ploys. America is scratching its way back up.
WHO...is actually working for minimum wage?
The fast food joints by me have signs in their windows offer $11-$11.50 an hour.
A small town in west central Michigan has signs in their windows for $10.50
Places now have to pay their average workers MORE just to keep them, as workers are looking for and finding jobs that pay more.
“Slightly more than 10% of Americans missed a rental or mortgage payment.”
Improper conflation. Late mortgage payments are at a multi-year low, as are foreclosures.
"Oh, it's so obvious now, I've seen the light! Ah well, I must be punished then, mustn't I? 'You're a naughty boy Fawlty, don't do it again!'"
Amazing that these endangered people with “food insecurity” can drink beer, buy cigarettes or dope, sport hair weaves, eyelash extenders, and custom finger nails. Their children are fed free breakfast and lunch, with a bag of food to be taken home over weekends. The “free lunch program” also extends through the summer, while school is not in session. It appears that taxpayers have given much more than should be required, to people who never will have enough freebies.
/s in case you couldn't tell
Someone gets it.
After about 30 years of "America last", open border free for all...Then Obama, it devastated millions of Americans. Some will never fully recover...Not enough time left.
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