While we would much prefer bringing you the usual humor and cheery good news, that is not the case with this particular article. The reality is that sometimes the truth – like Cousin Pat’s plaid outfit – is just a bit uglier than we want to acknowledge out loud, and you need someone who cares enough to give you that truth. We’ve got you covered, Pat! 👍
That being said, have you noticed that there are lots of news stories in the media about how great everything is right now, while at the same time you’re just not feeling or seeing all that greatness yourself? There’s a reason for that, and no, it’s not that you’re nuts. Let’s take a look at the ugly Pat-like reality of the economy right now. 😣
Here are Five Fast Facts about what’s really happening to the American economy:
- 📉 Income - The latest Census Bureau report shows three straight years of declining household income. In 2022 the median income was $74,580, down from $76,330, due in part to the biggest increase in cost-of-living (thank you, inflation) since 1981. Wage growth was 6.4%, which would be great…if inflation hadn’t grown by 7.8%. Doh!
- ♀️ Poverty And Women - In 2022, the Supplemental Poverty Measure rate, which tracks the number of people relying on government programs, more than doubled from 5.2% to 12.4%. Sixty-five percent of employed women worked full time year-round jobs, the highest number since it’s been tracked, and a sign that many are probably being drafted because they have to rather than want to.
- 😡 It’s Hitting Everyone - When compared to 2019, the top 5% of income earners saw a drop last year of 4.1% in their income, but it wasn’t just “the rich.” Folks in the bottom 10% of earners made 6.3% less. Every level of income took a hit, and income inequality was worse, too. If misery loves company, it’s having a great time right now.
- 😯 At What Cost - Some of the things the government did to counter inflation provided short term gain, but at the cost of long term pain. Stimulus payments, child tax credits (even if you didn’t pay taxes), COVID payments, and other programs that threw money at people fed the inflation beast, resulting in our current state of paying through the nose for everything. Um…thanks?
- 💸 Paycheck To Paycheck - Sixty-one percent of adults in America are living paycheck to paycheck. This includes almost 80% of those earning less than $50k, 65% of those earning up to $100k, and even 44% of those earning over $100k. Around 70% are experiencing high stress levels about finances, and only 45% have an emergency fund. Hopefully we all come out the other side of this as diamonds rather than extremely squished rocks.
🔥Bottom line: If this feels a bit more like your everyday reality, then you’re far from alone! But you’re not hearing much about Cousin Pat’s outfit from the media even though it’s right there in front of everyone. The reason is a word called gaslighting, which is a form of manipulation where you get flooded with false information to the point where you start to question your own perception of things. And that’s exactly the idea - the people who got us into this mess are the ones who are now telling you it’s not messy at all. So, here’s one final number for you to remember: 11/5/2024. That’s the date of the next big election when you can speak very loudly about how you think all this is going and the people who got us here.
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