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posted by janrinok on Monday May 21 2018, @08:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the richest-country-in-the-world dept.

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.

See also: https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2017/11/09/the-3-richest-americans-hold-more-wealth-than-bottom-50-of-country-study-finds/


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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Monday May 21 2018, @10:59AM (20 children)

    by looorg (578) on Monday May 21 2018, @10:59AM (#682103)

    ... don't earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone

    So which parts is it that is breaking the budget? Is it one or a combination of many? From an outside perspective we have always been told that what is screwing Americans over is the health care costs. Not sure if that is actually true or not. But as it gets described it at least seems plausible.

    One would think that one can at least rule out the cell phone from the equation, that is cheap in comparison to all the other things listed. From a personal budget perspective I would say the single largest post of the once listed is housing, that costs is probably larger then all the others listed combined.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @11:22AM (15 children)

    One would think that one can at least rule out the cell phone from the equation, that is cheap in comparison to all the other things listed.

    It's cheap, yes, but entirely too many people view it as a necessity rather than the luxury it is and budget (or in this case don't) accordingly. It doesn't take thousands of dollars a month to screw up a budget; fifty will do it just fine if you don't properly account and adjust for it.

    Tangent: One thing I've noticed about Tennessee that simply didn't exist in Oklahoma is the overabundance of short-term loan companies. There must be over a dozen in my small town of slightly under 8500 people. That they all get enough business to make ends meet tells me that people around here are absolute fucking morons with their money. Also, I'd never once even heard of putting rims and tires on credit until I came here.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Monday May 21 2018, @01:36PM (11 children)

      by bzipitidoo (4388) on Monday May 21 2018, @01:36PM (#682150) Journal

      > people around here are absolute fucking morons with their money.

      It's the whole nation that's like that, and maybe the whole world. For a little while, my father was a credit union treasurer in a small city, and what he observed is a very few people, about 1%, actually save a little. Of the rest, half of them spend money as fast as they get it, and the other half spend money faster. Recall the old fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper? 99% of people are grasshoppers. It certainly seems foolish, and yet... there are circumstances where the grasshopper's strategy is better. If it's a real jungle out there, with thieves constantly seeking out the ant's cache to plunder it any way they can, then the situation is "use it or lose it". Spend your money as fast as possible, enjoy it, before it is lost or stolen or devalued, for instance, every time the stock market tanks.

      Meantime, I've been trying to put it to them this way: why do you love big banks so? Give more to banks than to your favorite charities through 20% credit card interest and fees. Even worse are the slimeball payday loan and pawnshop businesses. They charge over 200%.

      • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @02:19PM (9 children)

        Even worse are the slimeball payday loan and pawnshop businesses. They charge over 200%.

        Honestly, I'm glad they're allowed to. Stupidity should be negatively reinforced. There are days where the thought crosses my mind that people shouldn't be allowed to fuck, much less reproduce, unless they have at least three months worth of their standard living expenses banked.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday May 21 2018, @04:37PM (4 children)

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday May 21 2018, @04:37PM (#682255) Journal

          So much for liberty above all, huh? What a hypocrite you are. That is a collectivist outlook if there ever was one. What's next, mandatory sterilization for anyone making less than 50K a year?

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @08:19PM (3 children)

            I said the though crossed my mind, not that it in any way shaped my actions or beliefs. Unlike some folks, I am quite in control of what I say and do rather than being at the whims of my bodily chemicals.

            --
            My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Monday May 21 2018, @08:51PM (1 child)

              by NewNic (6420) on Monday May 21 2018, @08:51PM (#682384) Journal

              Unlike some folks, I am quite in control of what I say and do rather than being at the whims of my bodily chemicals.

              Ignorance front and center again. We are all "at the whims of [our] bodily chemicals". There was an interesting episode of "This American Life" which discussed this very issue.

              --
              lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
            • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday May 22 2018, @04:04AM

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday May 22 2018, @04:04AM (#682522) Journal

              Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you'll fool someone into believing it someday. Those of us who live in reality, meanwhile, put up a set of polarizing filters every time you post so as not to be blinded by that massive freaking halogen you have in your projector...

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @05:17PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @05:17PM (#682275)

          TMB being a cranky fucktard? It must be Monday. Alternatively it could also be Tuesday Wednesday Thursday or Friday. We all know that Sunday is God's day of rest so he has TMB go fishing and stop causing trouble.

          • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @08:21PM (1 child)

            I take the entire weekend off not just Sunday.

            --
            My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @09:41PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @09:41PM (#682404)

              Did you see me list Saturday? Time for a new pair of spectacles (I assume that's what you people call them)

        • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday May 22 2018, @12:15PM

          by bzipitidoo (4388) on Tuesday May 22 2018, @12:15PM (#682608) Journal

          Cheating, particularly by the powerful on the weak, should be discouraged. Haven't you heard of redlining? What's a person to do when the bank flat refuses to loan them money? And the only accounts you can open have tons of fees? How about balloon payments, with the lender ready to come to the "rescue" with an even worse deal? Some car dealerships made the balloon payment their bread and butter. Oh, don't have the money for the surprise balloon payment we barely mentioned? No problem, trade in for another car! (With another car payment plan with another balloon at the end.) Pawn shops try to hide just how high their rates are. They'll discourage the customer from asking, try to fob them off with the answer to a slightly different question ("What is the interest rate?" "The monthly payment is x!"), try not to put any details on paper. People go to pawn shops and payday cash loan places anyway, even knowing they are raw deals, in part because they can't get a loan anywhere else.

          An especially shameful practice is treating veterans to shit financial deals. Our soldiers fight for our country, and when they return they can't get any credit and have no choice but to use the loan sharks.

          Really fucked up is having to immediately lose 5%, 10%, or even more off a check from an employer or the government, to cash it at one of those check cashing places.

          And then these smug jerks, blind to how badly tilted the playing field is, say the people who use such services are a bunch of idiots and losers. So typical, to blame the victims. What about draining that swamp full of loan sharks?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @04:37PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @04:37PM (#682256)

        Spend your money as fast as possible, enjoy it, before it is lost or stolen or devalued, for instance, every time the stock market tanks.

        The stock market is for long-term investment, not short-term savings. If you are not in it for the long-term then you are doing it wrong. And, if memory serves, there has never been a 15 year period when an investment in the stock market produced a negative return; and that includes the depression era of the 1930s.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by ants_in_pants on Monday May 21 2018, @02:57PM (1 child)

      by ants_in_pants (6665) on Monday May 21 2018, @02:57PM (#682203)

      it is a necessity in the modern world. For almost any job, you're expected to be able to take a call, do e-mail, etc. from any location.

      --
      -Love, ants_in_pants
      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @03:15PM

        Untrue. The vast majority of jobs in the US do not work that way even a little bit. They might call you in on your day off if they can but having a phone of any kind is by no means a mandatory condition of employment for most people.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday May 21 2018, @04:08PM

      by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday May 21 2018, @04:08PM (#682235) Journal

      I wouldn't consider a phone number as a luxury at all, but a necessity if one wants to be employed. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

      --
      This sig for rent.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Sulla on Monday May 21 2018, @02:23PM (2 children)

    by Sulla (5173) on Monday May 21 2018, @02:23PM (#682181) Journal

    I was recently going through my budget cutting out unnecessary things and realized we still had a landline. The cheapest landline in my area was 70/month. Switched the landline over to an old blackberry for $23/month. I think having a phone is pretty important and the poor dont have access to any cheap options, cell phones are often the cheapest.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @04:32PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @04:32PM (#682252)

      that's crazy that cell phone plans are cheaper

      i will have to look into that

      do land line number assignments transfer to cell phone lines? i know you can do cell to cell even when switching carriers, but a law made that possible, rather than altruism of the telco industry.

      i dont know about land line portability. it used to be that you had to be in the same 'zone' to keep the prefix if you moved to a new one and tried to get the same number there, but cell phones sure move a lot more than houses do.

      • (Score: 2) by Booga1 on Monday May 21 2018, @09:57PM

        by Booga1 (6333) on Monday May 21 2018, @09:57PM (#682407)

        Yes, in general, you can port landline numbers to wireless carriers. A short description of this is available from the FCC: https://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/numbport.pdf [fcc.gov]
        Of course, there are some exceptions, in particular, rural landline companies can apply for a waiver in order to keep their number pool steady(and of course hopefully retain the customer).

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @04:41PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @04:41PM (#682260)

    From an outside perspective we have always been told that what is screwing Americans over is the health care costs. Not sure if that is actually true or not.

    I remember being told back around the time that Obama was trying to get the ACA through Congress, the number one cause for personal bankruptcy was because of an illness in the family. Not sure if that is still true today. Just so you know.