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Almost Half of US Families Can't Afford Basics Like Rent and Food

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

An Anonymous Coward writes:

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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Original Submission

• Re:One more time, everyone Re:One more time, everyone (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @11:22AM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @11:22AM (#682112)

  Boomers fed on the bloated corpse of their ancestors accomplishments

  The huge death toll of 2 world wars was an "accomplishment" to be levelled at anyone other than the political classes?

  Whether they did so "knowingly" or as herded cattle is of little consequence to their historic guilt

  What "historic guilt"?

  Boomers where the middle managers that carried out off-shoring an entire economy,

  That was Gen X, the elitist middle class portion of it anyway.

  Boomers where the one placing their unsustainable pension funds in the hands of the usurers that promised ever greater returns

  Politicians placed our entire economy there before the boomers were even born.

  Boomers cashed out everything that society built up for there quick bump.

  Boomers rebuilt society, I suggest you check historic interest rates to get an impression as to exactly hard they worked to do so.

  Parent

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• Re:One more time, everyone (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 21 2018, @01:58PM

  by Runaway1956 (2926) on Monday May 21 2018, @01:58PM (#682165) Journal

  Boomers where the one placing their unsustainable pension funds in the hands of the usurers that promised ever greater returns

  Politicians placed our entire economy there before the boomers were even born.

  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.

  Parent

• Re:One more time, everyone (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @02:13PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @02:13PM (#682174)

  That was Gen X

  Remember Clinton selling Lincoln bedroom overnight stays to Chinese diplomats?

  http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/02/25/clinton.money/ [cnn.com]

  Parent