"15 Things The American Middle Class
Can't Afford Anymore"
By Finance Today
"The American middle class is suffering financially, and in today's video, we'll discuss a number of things that middle-class employees can no longer purchase. Americans' purchasing power is eroding at an astounding rate as a result of the most severe cost of living crisis in history. Even people who once felt some measure of financial stability now face tough decisions and must decide between putting food on their tables, paying their energy bills, and getting medical care. Middle-class people now do not enjoy the same level of financial security as their parents did in the past. While real income growth is stagnant, they are still having trouble keeping up with the rising cost of groceries, entertainment, electricity, and other basic necessities. Living conditions for this group keep becoming worse every month.
Currently, millions of Americans still struggle to maintain a minimal middle-class lifestyle. According to a survey released on Thursday by the United Way ALICE Project, nearly 51 million households do not make enough money each month to cover their monthly expenses for things like housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, and a cell phone. According to Primerica, the proportion of middle-class Americans who claim that their incomes aren't keeping up with their cost of living has increased by 16 percentage points since December 2020, reaching 75% in June 2022. Middle-class households are being forced to spend less on name-brand goods due to constrained budgets. Retail sales figures for just July reveal a 28% decrease in brand-name purchases as middle-class consumers struggle to pay for basic necessities.
Workers in the middle class struggle to make ends meet each month as a result of the debt load growing much more quickly than their salaries. In 1980, the consumer debt per person was $1,540, or 7.3% of the average family income of $21,100, according to a Money-Zine research. Consumer debt increased to $58,604 per person in 2022, which was close to 60% of the $97,026 average household income. In other words, from 1980 to 2022, debt grew by roughly 500% faster than income. Economic security depends on having a safety net, but as living expenses rise, fewer middle-class workers can afford to set away any money for unexpected expenses. Only one in seven middle-class households, according to a Bankrate poll, have enough money set aside for emergencies for at least six months. The remaining households have small to moderate amounts of savings, but not enough to cover six months' worth of expenses, and more than 25% of them have no emergency savings at all.
Theoretically, middle-class earners are different from low-income earners in that they do not depend entirely on their paychecks. But in reality, 157 million adult Americans, or more than 60% of the country's population, are currently struggling to make ends meet. In other words, the financial burden on middle-class Americans is equal to that on low-income Americans, with around two-thirds, or 67%, unable to afford an unforeseen $400 bill. According to recent estimates, almost a quarter of Americans currently spend more than 10% of their net income on energy. According to experts, those from families that are beyond this 10% threshold are classified as being in the "energy poor" category. Less than 10% of the population experienced energy poverty in 2016. However, the percentage of energy deprived people has increased by more than 15% in the last 12 months. Economists note that increased energy costs now affect all households, not just those with low incomes. There are many middle-class families out there who are going to experience a really harsh winter. Numerous segments of our society are already experiencing severe financial hardship. The worst is probably still to come, though, as events throughout the world continue to pick up speed."
Video and comments here:
No comments:
Post a Comment