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If these three
reports are any guide, it looks like the "recovery" is still
"on track" -- that is, the same dismal, downward spiral it's been
ever since the "experts" told us that the recession was
"over," the housing market had "bottomed," and the jobs
market was getting "better."
"Recession
Added Debt, Drained Families' Savings" (USA
Today)
The economy may
be improving but many American families are still weighed down by debt and
without a safety net.
One out of five
families owes more on credit cards, medical bills, student loans and other
unsecured debt than they have in savings, according to a new University of
Michigan report. And the number of families surveyed at the end of 2011 that
have no savings at all increased to 23.4%, compared with 18.5% in 2009.
"The
people who were down and out, without much money, in the recession have ended
up staying there or even worse," says Frank Stafford, professor of
economics at University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and
co-author of the report.
And the
mortgage crisis is not over. Among homeowners, 1.7% said that they expect to
fall behind on their mortgage payments in the near future. At least that is
slightly less than in 2009, when 1.9% expected to run into mortgage problems.
At a time many
Americans are trying to claw their way out of debt, they have no emergency
fund and little or no retirement savings. Sixty percent of workers say that
the value of their savings and investments is less than $25,000, according to
EBRI's 2012 Retirement Confidence Survey. And retirement confidence is at
historically low levels.
"Consumers
Intensify Their Vow to 'Save More, Spend Less'"
(Boston Consulting Group)
The vast
majority of U.S. and European consumers say they are feeling insecure,
anxious, and strapped for cash. Their concerns in many markets are higher
than a year ago and the highest they've been in a decade, according to a new
global survey by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Among the key
findings from BCG's eleventh annual Consumer Sentiment Survey, conducted in
April and covering more than 15,000 consumers in 16 countries:
- Consumers
blame the government for the crisis
- Feelings
of financial insecurity are high and getting higher in most markets
- Pessimism
about the speed of economic recovery is rampant
- One
in four people, on average, in the U.S. and Europe is worried about
losing his or her job
- Few
believe their children will live a better life—except in China
- Values
such as saving money and staying healthy have skyrocketed over the past
two years, while the willingness to splurge for luxury has plunged
- China
is a relative bright spot, with consumers feeling more optimistic about
the future than their Western counterparts
“If you
take the world from the perspective of the middle-class citizen in the U.S.
and Western Europe, we are still lurching from crisis to crisis," said
Michael J. Silverstein, a BCG senior partner and the author of influential
books on consumer behavior, including Trading Up, Treasure Hunt, and Women
Want More."Americans, in particular, are
anxious about their future, their jobs, and their lack of savings.”
"Great
Recession Reflux Amounts to More Hunger Among Seniors"
(University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental
Sciences)
URBANA –
A new study that looked at the hunger trends over a 10-year period found that
14.85 percent of seniors in the United States, more than one in seven, face
the threat of hunger. This translates into 8.3 million seniors.
"In 2005,
we reported that one in nine seniors faced the threat of hunger," said
Craig Gundersen, University of Illinois associate
professor of agricultural and consumer economics and executive director of
the National Soybean Research Laboratory who led the data analysis on the
study. "So, unlike the population as a whole, food insecurity among
those 60 and older actually increased between 2009 and 2010."
According to
the study, from 2001 to 2010, the number of seniors experiencing the threat
of hunger has increased by 78 percent. Since the onset of the recession in
2007 to 2010, the number of seniors experiencing the threat of hunger has
increased by 34 percent.
Gundersen
said that the fact that seniors in our country are going without enough food
due to economic constraints is a serious problem that will have greater
implications for senior health.
"Compounding
the problem is that food insecurity is also associated with a host of poor
health outcomes for seniors such as reduced nutrient intakes and limitations
in activities of daily living," Gundersen
said. "Consequently, this recent increase in senior
hunger will likely lead to additional nutritional and health
challenges for our nation."
It's all
"good," right?
Michael J. Panzner
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