Full screen recommended.
"This Is How Working Families Are
Being Destroyed By This Economy"
by Epic Economist
"How can we live the American Dream when the deck is stacked against us? For decades, our politicians stood idly by as millions of good-paying jobs were shipped overseas, our economic infrastructure was completely dismantled and multitudes of businesses were choked to death, leaving our population mostly with low-paid positions, a shrinking purchasing power, and rising living expenses. Today, we are definitely reaping the consequences. According to a new survey, almost 1 in 2 Americans are struggling financially right now, which means that about half the country is flat broke, and things are set to get even more precarious for working families as we enter the last few months of the year.
Working families in America are being destroyed by this crazy economy. Households are getting squeezed by a giant pile of expensive bills that only get higher and higher, and wages are not keeping pace with rising prices. People are seeing the value of their money go down while the cost of living continues to go up. That is why the levels of economic suffering are simply off the charts at this point, with almost 1 in 2 Americans saying that they’re having major difficulties making ends meet financially amid soaring food and gas bills, new research from Monmouth University shows.
More than 42% of the nation’s workers admitted they are under financial pressure, pointing to inflation as their biggest concern, the survey found. The figure is the highest recorded by the university since it started polling people five years ago. At the same time, over half of the nation – or 51 percent of all American workers - make less than $30,000 a year. With so many expenses adding up and so little money, most people don’t have a financial safety net to rely on. In fact, a new YouGov survey says that 49 percent of all Americans could not afford an unexpected $400 emergency expense without borrowing the money from somewhere or selling something.
Considering all of these factors, there’s no wonder why so many hard-working families are facing such great financial hardship. Despite working harder than ever, Americans’ sense of financial security is diminishing. Given that we have to spend a larger share of our salaries each month, it is getting harder to save money and build a financial cushion to fall back on. Having emergency savings is key to avoiding taking on more debt. But unfortunately, roughly 40% of consumers cannot put any money at all into savings, according to a recent analysis of household financial health and readiness by the American Consumer Credit Counseling, while about 19% said they had to reduce their savings rate.
Sadly, this is about as good as things are going to get. A new economic downturn is on our doorsteps, and layoff announcements at major firms are running 24 percent higher this year than they were last year. The America that most of us grew up in is dying, and what we have seen so far is just the beginning of its collapse. Our leaders will continue with business as usual. They will just keep doing the same things over and over again, and foolishly expecting different results. Whatever they are doing to “fix” things is not going to work, and that’s crystal clear to everyone by now.
We must start valuing working families again, and that means giving them opportunities to improve their financial situations and encouraging the creation of good-paying jobs. Unfortunately, we have already entered the early stages of the next great economic crisis, and so things are going to get a whole lot worse for the working class before there is any chance of them getting better."
No comments:
Post a Comment