A new report by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED)shows a major increase in what they call “asset poor” households:
In the United States, 27 percent of all households are “asset poor,” meaning they lack the savings or other assets to cover basic expenses for just three months if a layoff or other emergency leads to loss of income, according to the 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard, released today by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED). Since the release of the 2009-2010 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard, the number of asset poor families has increased by 21 percent from one in five families to one in four families. The asset poverty rate is now nearly twice as high as the Census Bureau’s official income poverty rate of 15.1 percent.
An increase of 21% is certainly significant.
“Growing numbers of families have almost no savings or other assets to see them through if they lose their jobs or face a medical crisis,” said Andrea Levere, president of CFED. “Without savings, few will be able to build a more economically secure future, including buying a home, saving for their children’s college educations or building a retirement nest egg.”
Levere added that the Scorecard findings are “particularly disturbing in the context of precipitous drops in incomes for many Americans and widening of the wealth gap between the richest and poorest households.”
Last year Business Insider provided us with fifteen graphs looking at income inequality and wealth in the US. Graph #5 above illustrates the flat wages many of us have experienced since at least 1990.
A look at key findings from the report shows something of crucial importance:
One in five jobs (22 percent) is low wage and nearly half of employers (46 percent) do not offer health insurance. Most workers (55 percent) do not have or participate in retirement plans. These low- quality jobs make it harder for families to both meet their needs today and create a reserve for tomorrow.
As wages continue to stagnate, good paying jobs are replaced with low wage jobs, and the costs of housing, food, transportation, heating oil, and everything else continue to rise, how will people save for the future, when they can’t even make ends meet in the present?
And why aren’t the presidential candidates talking about this?
Tags: Housing
Photo by woodleywonderworks on Flickr, via Creative Commons
In July I wrote about folk stampeding for Section 8 housing vouchers in Dallas, when thousands of people showed up, some waiting all night, to get vouchers for subsidized housing. It was a terrible story.
Since then, nothing much has changed, other than the fact that even more people are in need of affordable housing. From The Nation:
In Oakland, California, which opened its waiting list in January, officials expected as many as 100,000 people to apply for 10,000 vouchers. In Atlanta, sixty-two people were injured in 2010 at an East Point shopping center where 30,000 lined up after the local housing authority opened its waiting list for the first time in eight years. Even small communities like Aiken, South Carolina, saw hundreds queuing up in October for a chance at housing aid about as likely as seeing three cherries in a row on a Vegas slot machine.
Another way you can find tangible evidence of the housing affordability crunch is by visiting one of New York City’s exploding number of homeless shelters, where a record 41,000 homeless people bed down each night, including more than 17,000 children. The New York Times recently told the story of one of those children, fourth-grader N-Dia Layne, who travels two and a half hours each day between her Upper Manhattan shelter and her school in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood. In Cleveland, the number of homeless families and kids grew so rapidly this past summer that for the first time shelters were forced to eliminate daytime meals, housing-search assistance and other services in order to move workers to the overnight shifts, according to Brian Davis of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.
I had to read those New York numbers a few times. I can’t imagine that there are over 17,000 homeless children in New York City and this isn’t an issue being discussed in the endless presidential debates?
By nearly any measure, there are fewer and fewer homes affordable to working-class and poor Americans. The federal housing agency’s annual assessment finds that “worst-case housing needs” grew by 42 percent from 2001 to 2009, and nationwide there is a shortfall of nearly 3.5 million housing units for the poorest households. According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the share of renter households with the most severe cost burdens—that is, where more than half of income goes to rent and utilities—grew from a fifth to a quarter over the past decade and has doubled in the past half-century. And as household incomes stagnated for most of the past decade and then dropped during the economic crisis, the nation saw its already inadequate stock of cheap rental housing shrink even faster.
It’s pretty simple, really. The cost of living is increasingly high, while wages are increasingly low. It’s not a recipe for keeping a roof over one’s head.
All of the plans to “end homelessness in 10 years,” either are, or will be abject failures. The programs were all underfunded, and as the budget for federal housing programs continues to shrink, their failure is guaranteed. In the name of “deficit reduction” these programs are being cut, and cut again – with the goal being to eliminate them all together.
Despite the bleak policy landscape and the worsening affordability crisis, many local advocates and people working on the front lines talk about the renewed energy and hope generated by the nascent Occupy movement and the revived national discourse about income inequality. Donovan talks hopefully about the “other 1 percent”—the homeless and poor—saying that the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the superrich 1 percent is “causing the other 1 percent to agitate, and to show that homeless people are something other than a herded mass. They’re saying, Enough is enough.”
The Occupy movement changed the national discussion when it began last fall. Instead of deficits and debt, we’re now hearing about income inequality, joblessness, and a host of other issues that weren’t even on the horizon over the summer. It is my hope (as someone living with housing insecurity) that Occupy brings housing to the forefront of our national dialogue.
Tags: California, Housing, New York
Cities are already suffering from budget shortfalls, decreasing tax revenues, foreclosures, and unemployment. Now they’re being hit hard by cuts to the federal block grant program. From the New York Times:
The shrinking federal program, called Community Development Block Grants, was devised by the Nixon administration to bypass state governments and send money directly to big cities, which were given broad leeway to decide how to spend it. This year the federal government is giving out just $2.9 billion — a billion dollars less than it gave two years ago, and even less than it gave during the Carter administration, when the money went much further.
and
Cuts to the block grants program were cited in a recent report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, which noted that the number of vacant properties in America has jumped to 10 million from 7 million in 2000, threatening to attract crime and cause blight. “With sustained high foreclosure and unemployment rates and further declining home values, local officials said that continued, flexible C.D.B.G. funding would help them maintain efforts to address vacant properties in their areas,” the report noted.
Stabilizing neighborhoods that have been hard hit by foreclosure seems like a really good idea. Over 10 million vacant properties in the US is a recipe for disaster.
But mayors see it as an invaluable tool — one of the few federal programs that sends money directly to big cities, without going through the middlemen at the state level. Before its creation, mayors had to apply for small grants in many specific areas — leading to complaints of the this-food-is-terrible-and-the-portions-are-so-small variety. Tom Cochran, the executive director of the United States Conference of Mayors, said that mayors were thrilled when the Nixon administration agreed to consolidate the various grants into a single block grant program, which could be used broadly for community development, with local officials choosing their priorities. It was signed into law by President Gerald R. Ford.
It makes sense to let the cities decide what their own needs are, and not force them into one size fits all solutions.
From the website of the Community Bock Grant Program:
The CDBG program works to ensure decent affordable housing, to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities, and to create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses. CDBG is an important tool for helping local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities. The CDBG program has made a difference in the lives of millions of people and their communities across the Nation.
With poverty and homelessness on the rise, it seems more than a little short sighted to cut the funding for this program, especially given that this funding is a proven source of job creation.
Photo by Loozrboy on Flickr, via Creative Commons.
Tags: Housing, Jobs
Florida Governor Rick Scott has achieved a historically low approval rating of 26 percent. How did he do it? Here’s our guide to being an incredibly unpopular state executive:
1.) While campaigning, make sure to promise to take action on the most pressing issue on the minds of Americans: jobs. Declare unequivocally and repeatedly that you will create 700,000 jobs in 7 years, and make “Let’s get to work” your campaign slogan. That way, voters can feel a sense of betrayal and disappointment when you do nothing to follow through.
2.) Start breaking promises right off the bat – voters love initiative! Despite a historic high level of unemployment in construction, reject federal money for a high speed rail project that would employ thousands of construction workers and engineers. Don’t give a good reason for your actions. That way, voters can assume you’re killing jobs for political reasons.
3.) Has your state experienced a huge economic hit because of a man-made, preventable disaster recently, perhaps an oil spill? By all means, do not make any effort to hold the corporations behind that disaster accountable. Even if other governors of your own party are making such an effort, continue to have more sympathy for those corporations then your constituents.
4.) One of the keys to being an unpopular governor is to demonize huge segments of your state’s population, and then watch it backfire. Here’s a good list to start from:
- Firefighters and police officers
- Students
- College professors
- Welfare recipients
- People who want to vote
- Teachers
- People who enjoy parks
- People with preexisting medical conditions
- “Government”
5.) Related: Fire lots of teachers. Voters love crowded classrooms.
6.) Display your callous disregard for working families by raising the salaries of your personal staff while slashing wages for state employees.
7.) Continue to tout your business background while doing everything you can to seed doubt about your understanding of economics. Bonus: Fail at basic math and attack public workers simultaneously.
8.) While you’re ignoring the jobs crisis, try addressing some imaginary problems. Let your imagination run wild! Don’t stop at fighting imaginary voter fraud, that’s just Bad Governor 101. Search for oil in the Everglades! Fight imaginary drug use among welfare recipients! Spend as much taxpayer money as possible.
9.) Establish a “jobs agency” that can’t keep track of its own spending. Voters love irony!
10.) Make lots of statements that are demonstrably false. These statements should concern topics a governor should be familiar with: regulations, budgets, spending, transportation, health care, and the geography of your state. (Bonus: Racial insensitivity.)
11.) Don’t forget your role: serving the needs of corporations and the super-wealthy. For instance, pass $2 billion in tax breaks targeting the wealthiest and lift regulations on property insurers. Announce plans to privatize as many things as you can. Make sure your campaign donors coincidentally benefit from your policies. (Bonus: Wink at the taxpayers for footing the bill – they’re in on the joke!)
12.) At all times, lack compassion and understanding about the basic needs and priorities of your state. The majority of your constituents just want to find a decent job, put food on the table, afford health care when they get sick, pay bills on time, vote on Election Day, and make sure their children get an adequate education. Your job is to wake up every morning in your mansion, drive to work, and make sure all those things are as difficult as possible.
Got more to add to Rick Scott’s Guide to Popularity? Leave your suggestions in the comments, or tweet at us with the hashtag #RickScottFail.
Photo of Governor Rick Scott by Gage Skidmore on Flickr, via Creative Commons.
Tags: Corporate Accountability, Education, Florida, Health Care, Housing, Jobs, Retirement, Rick Scott, Rights At Work
Rick Scott, the Governor of the State of Florida, has broken new ground. According to Public Policy Polling, he is once again the least popular governor in the country:
Florida’s Rick Scott has retaken the title of least popular governor in the country among the 36 on which PPP has polled this year. His job performance mark has tanked from 36% approving and 52% disapproving when PPP last polled the state in September to 26-58 now, a decline of 16 points on the margin. His greatest fall has been with his own party, which stands at 46-31, down 22 points. Independents disapprove by a 30-55 margin.
More key numbers:
- 66 percent of those who identify as political “moderates” disapprove of Scott. 34 percent of those who identify as “somewhat conservative” also disapprove.
- 55 percent of Independents disapprove, and so do 31 percent of Republicans.
- African-Americans, a sizable population in Florida, have truly soured on Rick Scott – only 5 percent approve versus 80 percent disapproving. 66 percent of Hispanics also disapprove.
- In a hypothetical rematch with 2010 Democratic opponent Alex Sink, Scott would only receive 37 percent of the vote. Sink would net 48 percent of the crucial Independent vote, and 21 percent of Republicans would cross party lines instead of voting for Scott.
This level of poor job performance is even more impressive when you consider Scott’s competition:
- Michigan’s Gov. Rick Snyder, who despite calling himself in favor of “small government” is wresting away local the power of local governments in his state;
So how did Scott do it? How did he manage to get nearly 3 out of every 4 Floridians to think he is bad at his job? We’ve prepared a little cheat sheet, in case you want to be a terrible governor at home. Stay tuned for Rick Scott’s Guide to Unpopularity!
Photo by juxtapose^esopatxuj on Flickr, via Creative Commons.
Tags: Corporate Accountability, Education, Florida, Health Care, Housing, Jobs, Retirement, Rick Scott, Rights At Work
We’re watching with interest today as Occupy Our Homes, a new national coalition, takes the message of the 99% from public parks and city squares to residential neighborhoods. They’re pushing back against the big banks, with an eye on keeping struggling homeowners in their homes.
The events taking place around the country include marches, rallies and direct nonviolent action.
It’s a natural next step for growing the reach and power of the 99% movement. It connects the concerns the Occupy protesters raise over corporate accountability and inequality with the actual on-the-ground effects of those issues. And it makes the protests relevant to communities who may not be occupying squares themselves. Most importantly, it shows a path for organizing and social action to have real-world positive effects.
(Even some not-very-sympathetic-to-Occupy conservative bloggers have suggested an effort to occupy foreclosures makes sense.)
As Sarah Seltzer notes at Alternet, this effort links the economic justice focus of the Occupy protests with an active and growing, but under-reported, movement to fix our broken housing system.
For many occupiers, the exploitative nature of the foreclosure crisis, the fact that families are losing their homes while the bankers who engineered this fateful bubble get bonuses–these were the reasons they joined in September…This day of action will only be the spark plug for what organizers hope is a coordinated but spontaneous national campaign, offering a blueprint for communities to do similar eviction resistance around the country or to coordinate between already-active movements.
Foreclosure is devastating neighborhoods even as it benefits big banks. In the communities we visit every day, foreclosures are a demoralizing reminder of ongoing failures in our economy, and the effect that they have goes beyond the family who lose their home.
The effort of the Occupy movement to fight foreclosures has great potential—enough that Bank of America is concerned, sending an internal email to staff exposing its weaknesses.
As the Occupy Our Homes rallies take place California and Nevada’s state Attorneys General are also taking a big step to advance the cause of protecting homeowners, announcing a joint investigation into foreclosure fraud and banking-industry misconduct. It’s important that the fight for economic justice take place at both the governmental level and in communities and neighborhoods.
For more, check out this map of today’s Occupy Our Homes actions and listen to the stories of people facing down foreclosure.
Photo by Taber Andrew Bain on Flickr, via Creative Commons
Tags: Corporate Accountability, Housing, OWS
Last week we saw Occupy Atlanta occupy the neighborhood of a cop who was being foreclosed upon. This kind of direct action is (fingers crossed) starting to catch on.
Occupy Cleveland helps a single mother stay in her home for the holidays. From ThinkProgress:
After her husband left her and refused to provide any real support, Beth Sommerer was due to be evicted from her home today, along with her children. But at the last moment, she made a desperate plea to the protesters of Occupy Cleveland. Soon afterward, Occupy Cleveland pitched its tents in Sommerer’s yard, vowing not to move unless she was allowed to stay in her home. On Monday, a local court gave in and gave a 30-day stay on the eviction order.
This is a perfect illustration of the phrase “united we stand.” We should all be united in the belief that homeless families are just not acceptable.
Tags: Cleveland, Housing, Ohio, OWS
What’s your favorite part of Thanksgiving? Turkey? Cranberry sauce? The post-dinner nap? How about those never-ending discussions with your family about everything from football to politics?
This holiday season, Working America is encouraging you to embrace that quality family time as an opportunity to help Uncle Pat and Aunt Anita make sense of what it means to be a part of the 99 Percent. We’re calling it, “Turkey Talk.”
This is the perfect opportunity to keep the national dialogue on economic fairness, sparked by the uprising of the 99 Percent, going right at your dinner table. More likely than not, your family is a part of the struggling 99 percent who simply want jobs and democracy and are looking for some economic justice and fairness. And when this topic inevitably comes up, you should be armed with all the information you need to help combat any spin coming from your loved ones that they hear on cable news or read online.
How do you deal with these political topics at the dinner table? On Monday, November 21st at 2pm, we’ll be moderating a Live Chat where you can share anecdotes and stories about past Thanksgiving table political struggles, as well as tips on how to make this year’s Turkey Day discussions enjoyable, effective, and educational.
Sign up below to receive a reminder email for our Turkey Talk Live Chat on Monday at 2pm. Feel free to also participate on Twitter with the hashtag #turkeytalk.
Tags: Corporate Accountability, Education, Health Care, Housing, Jobs, OWS, Retirement, Rights At Work, Turkey Talk
Older readers will remember LBJ declaring a war on poverty in his 1964 State of the Union address. He was responding to the national poverty rate of 19%. The nation (back then) was united in thinking poverty was a bad thing. The official poverty rate for 2010 was 15.1%, according to the US Census.
We abandoned the war on poverty a long time ago. These days, instead of fighting poverty, the US is waging war against the poor.
Frances Fox Piven in The Nation writes about how Occupy Wall Street is bringing attention to poverty:
Some facts: early in 2011, the US Census Bureau reported that 14.3 percent of the population, or 47 million people—one in six Americans—were living below the official poverty threshold, currently set at $22,400 annually for a family of four. Some 19 million people are living in what is called extreme poverty, which means that their household income falls in the bottom half of those considered to be below the poverty line. More than a third of those extremely poor people are children. Indeed, more than half of all children younger than six living with a single mother are poor. Extrapolating from this data, Emily Monea and Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution estimate that further sharp increases in both poverty and child poverty rates lie in our American future.
This kind of information goes largely unreported, and would (I hope) shock people if they were made aware of it.
Some experts dispute these numbers on the grounds that they neither take account of the assistance that the poor still receive, mainly through the food stamp program, nor of regional variations in the cost of living. In fact, bad as they are, the official numbers don’t tell the full story. The situation of the poor is actually considerably worse. The official poverty line is calculated as simply three times the minimal food budget first introduced in 1959, and then adjusted for inflation in food costs. In other words, the American poverty threshold takes no account of the cost of housing or fuel or transportation or healthcare costs, all of which are rising more rapidly than the cost of basic foods. So the poverty measure grossly understates the real cost of subsistence.
Those “experts” must be the same folks that insist that poor folks can’t really be poor because they have refrigerators. In the tourist area of NH where I live, the wage scale (as advertised in the help wanted section of the paper) is exactly the same as it was in 1989. Nothing costs the same as it did back then.
Nor are these catastrophic levels of poverty merely a temporary response to rising unemployment rates or reductions in take-home pay resulting from the great economic meltdown of 2008. The numbers tell the story and it’s clear enough: poverty was on the rise before the Great Recession hit. Between 2001 and 2007, poverty actually increased for the first time on record during an economic recovery. It rose from 11.7 percent in 2001 to 12.5 percent in 2007. Poverty rates for single mothers in 2007 were 49 percent higher in the United States than in fifteen other high-income countries. Similarly, black employment rates and income were declining before the recession struck.
Weakening unions, a lagging minimum wage, outsourcing – all of these things contributed to the problem.
Inevitably, the overall impact of the campaign to reduce labor’s share of national earnings meant that a growing number of Americans couldn’t earn even a poverty-level livelihood—and even that’s not the whole of it. The poor and the programs that assisted them were the objects of a full-bore campaign directed specifically at them.
The poor have been vilified for decades now, starting with the “welfare queens driving Cadillacs” right up to the contemporary legislation calling for drug testing of welfare or food stamp recipients.
Occupy Wall Street has brought national attention to income inequality and the concentration of wealth at the top. The shift in our national media dialogue has been startling. For most of the last year it’s been “all deficit all the time.” Those days appear to be over. The reportage these days is broader and better, and Occupy has spread around the country, and continues to grow. Frances Fox Piven writes of her hopes for a more moral economy in our country. Let us hope, as she does, that this is just the beginning.
Photo from pdexposures on Flickr, via Creative Commons.
Tags: Education, Health Care, Housing, OWS, Retirement
