Jump to content

Almost half of US families can't afford basics like rent and food


Starkiller

Recommended Posts

5 minutes ago, Starkiller said:

It isn’t exaggeration or hyperbole. The article states the facts quite plainly. 43% of households are either in poverty or making less income than they need to adequately afford the cost of living. What part of that is unclear?

Almost half can't afford rent or food. That's clearly misleading and is never even hinted at in ALICE's article. It was phrased that way to draw a reaction.

That is the title of this thread and is simply untrue, according to the very source it cites.

Edited by siamesedinasour
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Replies 146
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

We’re starting to learn what America’s biggest companies are doing with the huge windfalls from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts. And the answer is great for investors – but not so great for workers.

LOL @ the bank bailouts of the Obama administration.     Check and see what happened in September 2008 and who had been in the white house and controlled congress for 8 years.

The title is hyperbole, in itself, but the article quickly defines what it's considering.     My household falls within the upper middle class.  The 08 crash woke me up and we eliminated mos

19 minutes ago, Titansgoodluckcharm said:

You're really dense aren't you?

 

Who are you gonna get from your side who could deal with me? Deray? Shaun King? The 3 Women? Lol

Wtf are you talking about now? Are you drunk?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just now, siamesedinasour said:

Almost half can't afford rent or food. That's clearly misleading and is never even hinted at in ALICE's article. It was phrased that way to draw a reaction.

It doesn’t say people can’t afford rent or food. It says people can’t afford the basics (which includes things like rent and food). It includes a lot of things, those are just examples. 

 

You are bitching about a headline. One that isn’t even inaccurate.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Part of the story is stagnant wages, another part is rising rents, yet another is the cost of healthcare, and finally the last part is the importance of smartphones and internet to participate in the modern economy.

 

It's a squeeze.

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Starkiller said:

It doesn’t say people can’t afford rent or food. It says people can’t afford the basics (which includes things like rent and food). It includes a lot of things, those are just examples. 

 

You are bitching about a headline. One that isn’t even inaccurate.

Then, two questions:

(1) Why say "almost half" instead of "just over 40%"? Seems like semantics, but if they are rounding, that is a non-sensical way of rounding, except to make a point. If they round it purposefully a certain way to make a point, that is pretty much the definition of misleading.

(2) Nowhere in the CNNMoney article does it mention that 43% number also includes a 10% contingency item in the budget... but not only mentioned food and rent, but included it in the headline. It's not like there's some horribly long list of items ALICE takes into account - there are only 7 items on their list. Why did they leave the 10% contingency part completely out of not only the headline but the entire article if not to be misleading?

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, siamesedinasour said:

Then, two questions:

(1) Why say "almost half" instead of "just over 40%"? Seems like semantics, but if they are rounding, that is a non-sensical way of rounding, except to make a point. If they round it purposefully a certain way to make a point, that is pretty much the definition of misleading.

43% is almost half

 

 

Quote

(2) Nowhere in the CNNMoney article does it mention that 43% number also includes a 10% contingency item in the budget... but not only mentioned food and rent, but included it in the headline. It's not like there's some horribly long list of items ALICE takes into account - there are only 7 items on their list. Why did they leave the 10% contingency part completely out of not only the headline but the entire article if not to be misleading?

The article isn’t misleading. They could have included more, but doesn’t change the underlying facts that the story is correct, not hyperbole. It correctly states how many people the United Way project qualify as ALICE. People who want more detail can read the findings of the study directly if they want. There is a link to it...

Link to post
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Rogue said:

The title is hyperbole, in itself, but the article quickly defines what it's considering.  

 

My household falls within the upper middle class.  The 08 crash woke me up and we eliminated most debt.  Mortgage, an unfortunate dreaded car note, and the last of my wife's students loan is all that is left.  We live okay and have a little savings and some retirement that won't last long when the time comes.  We have a small nest egg that takes an uncomfortable hit with things like a root canal.  

 

We're upper middle class and I find it a struggle to make our financial situation comfortable, much less our retirement, if that is ever even a thing for us.  

 

We're upper middle class with a minimal debt load in modern society.  Any big issues like a job lose or serious health issues and we're wiped out.  Pensions and retirement insurance are a thing of the past.  The vast majority of us have no clue how retirement works for us, and we'll be largely dependant on SS and medicare, which none of us has any faith will adequately provide for us by the time we get there.  

 

Again, we're upper middle class.  I can't even begin to imagine how the lower middle class or the poor must feel.  

 

What was your debt like pre 08? By nest egg do you mean you borrowed from your 401k to get the root canal?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Carrying the mail I see who gets assistance and I'm sometimes shocked who gets it being that I know what they do or close to how much I make. 

 

I also know multiple people in their mid 30s and up who have two jobs

 

But honestly in a lot of the cases I have to blame the people more than the system 

Link to post
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, patsplat said:

Part of the story is stagnant wages, another part is rising rents, yet another is the cost of healthcare, and finally the last part is the importance of smartphones and internet to participate in the modern economy.

 

It's a squeeze.

If you look at some of the price comparisons between now, and the 70's, it'll blow your mind. Adjusted for inflation everything is more expensive and our wages have been stagnant for nearly a decade now.

 

I graduated in '08. Right into the crash. Our professors were already telling us it was gonna happen a year before it happened. They were ahead of the "experts." I remember being glad I graduated right before it, but noticing the change in the economy where people started to tighten up. I can't imagine what it'd be like graduating in today's market. I would've taken a whole different approach.

 

 

College debt (tuition started going through the roof). Home prices. Gas prices. Added necessary expenses (internet, tech). Low wages.

 

 

Makes perfect sense. Our quality of living is going down.

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, OILERMAN said:

What was your debt like pre 08? By nest egg do you mean you borrowed from your 401k to get the root canal?

A car note, credit cards, my school loan, and some other piddly stuff I don't remember.  Enough I realized I was as financially unstable.  I listened to Dave Ramsey's tapes and did the debt snow ball.  Paid off all the littler stuff first and once that was paid off rolled it into the bigger stuff.  I don't even have a credit card anymore.  

 

By nest egg I mean savings account.  It's there for things like that.  Unfortunately, I had to buy a car last year and I pour surpluses into that note instead of savings, or at least most of it.  

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, OILERMAN said:

Carrying the mail I see who gets assistance and I'm sometimes shocked who gets it being that I know what they do or close to how much I make. 

 

I also know multiple people in their mid 30s and up who have two jobs

 

But honestly in a lot of the cases I have to blame the people more than the system 

Debt has become a way of life and it's a choice we make.  We are to blame.  

 

HouseholdDebtPersonalSavings.jpg

 

At the same time, inflation adjusted wages have remained relatively flat.  We've exchanged wages for credit.  Add to that the weath gap has widened and people can't help but feel they've been screwed. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Rolltide said:

Being awfully hard on your hero Obama? The economy you are bashing is his remember?

The economy is a product of decades of Reagan's trickle down economics along with a financial crisis that happened before Obama was elected. So sure, blame Obama for everything...

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.


×
×
  • Create New...