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http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/17/news/economy/us-middle-class-basics-study/index.html
"Nearly 51 million households don't earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone, according to a study released Thursday by the United Way ALICE Project. That's 43% of households in the United States."
The figure includes the 16.1 million households living in poverty, as well as the 34.7 million families that the United Way has dubbed ALICE -- Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. This group makes less than what's needed "to survive in the modern economy."
"Despite seemingly positive economic signs, the ALICE data shows that financial hardship is still a pervasive problem," said Stephanie Hoopes, the project's director.
California, New Mexico and Hawaii have the largest share of struggling families, at 49% each. North Dakota has the lowest at 32%.
Many of these folks are the nation's child care workers, home health aides, office assistants and store clerks, who work low-paying jobs and have little savings, the study noted. Some 66% of jobs in the US pay less than $20 an hour.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @09:31AM (10 children)
It wasn't boomers, it was the globalist, neo-liberal late 90s governments that presided over both the offshoring of labor and a property boom. Most boomers weren't better off when they were borrowing against the overinflated value of their property to put their children on the property ladder. They weren't better off when the markets plunged in 2008 because mortgage lenders exposed themselves to too much risk. It was government that did everything to stop property prices from falling. It was government that failed to stop mortgage companies lending money they didn't have to people that couldn't afford to repay it.
Can you provide any evidence that these things were the publicly stated policy of Western governments before accusing boomers of voting for this course? No? Then put the blame where it belongs - the lying, thieving and incompetent class of parasites we call "professional politicians".
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @10:46AM (4 children)
Boomers fed on the bloated corpse of their ancestors accomplishments and now we pick the scraps. Whether they did so "knowingly" or as herded cattle is of little consequence to their historic guilt. Boomers where the middle managers that carried out off-shoring an entire economy, Boomers where the one placing their unsustainable pension funds in the hands of the usurers that promised ever greater returns, Boomers cashed out everything that society built up for there quick bump. This is how they will be looked upon once they have all died off, regardless of whether they were told to do these things or lied to about the outcomes.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 21 2018, @11:09AM
Go back to GP's post, and re-read. I clicked the link just to ask, "How's that globalization working out for you?"
I can admit that a lot of the globalists are from the boomer generation, but, as a group, or as a class, boomers aren't in favor of globalization. That has been shoved down everyone's throats, as well as up our asses.
When we discuss Nazi Germany's crimes, do we blame everyone born into the generation that Hitler belonged to? No? Yes? Well, if "yes", then you've just offered the Nazi's an escape clause. The Jews are to blame, because they were part of that generation too!
You might want to address some of the assholes and lowlifes, like Mitt Romney who made his fortune selling American businesses to the Chinese. The Clintons, who offered all sorts of tech to the Chinese, free of charge.
Think before you whine. You will probably look a whole lot smarter if you make the effort.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @11:22AM (2 children)
The huge death toll of 2 world wars was an "accomplishment" to be levelled at anyone other than the political classes?
What "historic guilt"?
That was Gen X, the elitist middle class portion of it anyway.
Politicians placed our entire economy there before the boomers were even born.
Boomers rebuilt society, I suggest you check historic interest rates to get an impression as to exactly hard they worked to do so.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 21 2018, @01:58PM
Thank you. Boomers didn't dream up the Federal Reserve. Boomers didn't write the myriad of insurance laws. Boomers had nothing to do with drawing up the plans for all those worthless pension funds. Some upper crust boomers may or may not have helped to plunder those various funds, but they certainly didn't come up with the schemes by which the plundering was accomplished. Ditto for Social Security.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @02:13PM
Remember Clinton selling Lincoln bedroom overnight stays to Chinese diplomats?
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/02/25/clinton.money/ [cnn.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @12:10PM (2 children)
Businesses like to have us ignore the illegal alien invasion. These people provide 3rd-world labor rates right in our backyard. This is why wages are so low that "Americans won't do those jobs". Well, of course, if you bring in a bunch of 3rd-world labor, those people will drive down wages.
(Score: 3, Informative) by arslan on Tuesday May 22 2018, @06:00AM (1 child)
I'm not American, but it is a bit disingenious to claim "Americans won't do those jobs". I'd call and raise your claim by saying "Humans by nature won't do those jobs". Even in 3rd world countries, where I grew up, we outsource those work to other lower ranked, economically speaking, 3rd world countries whenever we could.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 22 2018, @06:14PM
Low wages for immigrants are manageable because that crap wage still allows them to send/save money back home.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @10:54PM
And who was the dominate voting class during those periods? The government is made up of people. Just claiming government this and government that is a scapegoat argument.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday May 22 2018, @04:10AM
"It was government that failed to stop mortgage companies lending money they didn't have to people that couldn't afford to repay it."
What, after requiring lenders to make sub-prime loans to encourage home ownership?
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-government-caused-the-mortgage-crisis-2009-10 [businessinsider.com]
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.