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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: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @12:45PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @12:45PM (#682128)

    In some instances, their inability to make their rent is somewhat determined by poor choices elsewhere (cigs. and beer).

    Nobody sets out with the intention of drinking every day, drugs and alcohol can quickly become a stress coping mechanism with both wealthy and poor people being destroyed by the same spiral of addiction. Ever pour yourself a glass of wine after a stressful day at work? Guess what happens when the stress of circumstances entirely outside of your control begins inducing physiological changes... Everything will be fine after the next paycheck, you'll quit then...

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @01:26PM (5 children)

    You hear that sound? That's am mp3 of the smallest violin in the world playing just for them.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @02:44PM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @02:44PM (#682197)

      You hear that sound? That's am mp3 of the smallest violin in the world playing just for them.

      All of them?

      It's a step further than I'm going to blame individuals for predicaments entirely beyond their control.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @03:04PM (3 children)

        Entirely beyond their control? Withdrawal may not be pleasant but dealing with discomfort is part of life. If you lack the ability to do so, you lack the ability to live. Being as I have zero children, I'm fairly certain "they" are not my responsibility to support even to the age of majority, much less their entire lives. I'll help a family member/friend/neighbor out when I can but anyone telling me I'm morally obligated to pay someone I've never met's way through life can go fuck themselves.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @03:31PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @03:31PM (#682222)

          Entirely beyond their control? Withdrawal may not be pleasant but dealing with discomfort is part of life. If you lack the ability to do so, you lack the ability to live.

          You're not seeing it...

          I'll help a family member/friend/neighbor out when I can but anyone telling me I'm morally obligated to pay someone I've never met's way through life can go fuck themselves.

          I'd make assistance easier to get, bundle it with counselling and kick people off after 3 months. Entrapping someone into financial dependence on welfare is just as immoral as the dealer hooking them on heroine.

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @08:01PM (1 child)

            Making a central welfare system available at all is a highly dubious proposition. I mean, look at all the good doing so has done for the black community. They've gone from ~80% nuclear families to ~80% single parent families in the span of two generations, with all the poverty and such that statistically comes with single parent homes.

            --
            My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @09:36PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @09:36PM (#682399)

              Yeah, that couldn't have had anything to do with Nixon's culture war. Nope, not a thing. It must be all the things you're told to hate and revile! Oh lookit that, those things match up nicely with what the really rich folks want.

              asshat

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Oakenshield on Monday May 21 2018, @01:36PM (2 children)

    by Oakenshield (4900) on Monday May 21 2018, @01:36PM (#682151)

    I am reading a book called "White Out" which purports to be the true story of a college graduate student and his addiction to heroin. I would be bankrupt trying to satisfy the heroin costs this guy had. He claims to have forged, fenced, stolen, pawned, begged, and borrowed to support his habit. I haven't finished the book yet, but so far, he comes across as the scummiest human being you can imagine. His story as he has written it does not elicit sympathy or compassion. Although I know that he is now a PhD faculty at a University and so has (probably) kicked his habit, I have to admit, you'll be rooting for an OD before you get very far in it. If I worked near him today, I would never turn my back. You know what he is capable of doing and he's only one (additional) relapse away from doing it.

    • (Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday May 22 2018, @04:40AM (1 child)

      by dry (223) on Tuesday May 22 2018, @04:40AM (#682528) Journal

      Wonder what type of person he would have been if heroin had been available for a couple of bucks a day?

      • (Score: 1, Troll) by Oakenshield on Tuesday May 22 2018, @03:19PM

        by Oakenshield (4900) on Tuesday May 22 2018, @03:19PM (#682666)

        I'm guessing, still a scumbag. I lost count of how many times he attempted addiction treatments for 24 hours or so. He had no concern passing on the costs involved for that to his victims. He misses or shows up late and high to teach his classes as a GTA, taking from the students who pay for those classes. He was banned for a year from his school for behavioral problems. His story so far really has no redeeming points.

        We have heroin issues in the region of the country that I live. There are "functional" addicts in the communities. I would not consider any of them upstanding citizens though. Local businesses are beginning to deny access to their restrooms to customers because they are tired of cleaning up needles and calling EMS for the ODs. It's not a product cost problem. It's a scumbag problem.