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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: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @12:10PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @12:10PM (#682121)

    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.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by arslan on Tuesday May 22 2018, @06:00AM (1 child)

    by arslan (3462) on Tuesday May 22 2018, @06:00AM (#682541)

    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

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 22 2018, @06:14PM (#682741)

      Low wages for immigrants are manageable because that crap wage still allows them to send/save money back home.