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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: 1, Flamebait) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @02:19PM (9 children)
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)
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)
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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 22 2018, @02:09AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday May 22 2018, @04:04AM
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)
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
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
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?