Perhaps I misinterpreted this, but it sounds to me like they are talking about coming up with $2,000 from current/new income. It looks like, if you have to take the $2,000 from savings, you are in the fragile group, which would seem to make this a very stupid study with unsupportable conclusions. ?? Maybe I did not understand.
It is a little unclear, but the article seems to say that if you have to pawn your possessions or take out a payday loan to come up with the $2K, rather than dip into savings or ask friends and family, then you’re classified among the “fragile.”
http://www.ebri.org/publications/ib/index.cfm?fa=ibDisp&content_id=4488
MORE PEOPLE HAVE NO SAVINGS AT ALL: An increased percentage of workers report they have virtually no savings and investments. Among RCS workers providing this type of information, 27 percent say they have less than $1,000 in savings (up from 20 percent in 2009). In total, more than half of workers (54 percent) report that the total value of their household’s savings and investments, excluding the value of their primary home and any defined benefit plans, is less than $25,000
The responses don’t even match up with the question!
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“If you were to face a $2,000 unexpected expense in the next month,
how would you get the funds you need?”
In the U.S.,
24.9% of respondents reported being certainly able,
25.1% probably able,
22.2% probably unable
and 27.9% certainly unable
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