Jimmie Higgins
9th October 2013, 14:03
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lower-class-20130916%2c0%2c5616335.story
Jobless people have long been more likely than other Americans to call themselves lower class, but in recent years people who work at least part time have been increasingly likely to do so too. Activists say workers are frustrated as jobs with fewer hours and less pay have proliferated, a hallmark of the sluggish recovery.
"It's not surprising if the American worker is thinking, 'I'm working harder than I've ever worked, yet I'm being paid less — and I'm working two or maybe three jobs,'" said Lola Smallwood Cuevas, project director of the Los Angeles Black Worker Center. "It creates a feeling that you're trapped."
http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/13/20479745-the-great-disconnect-5-years-after-lehman-brothers-collapsed?lite
Despite the good news on the economy over the past few months (at least statistically speaking), just 27% think the economy will get better over the next 12 months -- the lowest percentage in our poll since July 2012. In addition, 52% disapprove of Obama's job, which is the highest number for him since Aug. 2012. Americans also are worried about economic mobility. Of the respondents who identified themselves as poor or working class, only 29% say it’s likely they’ll be in the middle class over the next several years, down from 36% who said this in 1998. And when asked what worries respondents the most in their lives, the top answers -- they were allowed up to two -- were health care (34%), saving enough for retirement (29%), paying for groceries and utility bills (26%), and the cost of college (21%). Note: Down on this list was job security (17%), which suggests that many Americans aren’t struggling to find jobs; rather they’re struggling IN THEIR JOBS with wage stagnation especially as the cost of health, education and retirement all go up.
Jobless people have long been more likely than other Americans to call themselves lower class, but in recent years people who work at least part time have been increasingly likely to do so too. Activists say workers are frustrated as jobs with fewer hours and less pay have proliferated, a hallmark of the sluggish recovery.
"It's not surprising if the American worker is thinking, 'I'm working harder than I've ever worked, yet I'm being paid less — and I'm working two or maybe three jobs,'" said Lola Smallwood Cuevas, project director of the Los Angeles Black Worker Center. "It creates a feeling that you're trapped."
http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/13/20479745-the-great-disconnect-5-years-after-lehman-brothers-collapsed?lite
Despite the good news on the economy over the past few months (at least statistically speaking), just 27% think the economy will get better over the next 12 months -- the lowest percentage in our poll since July 2012. In addition, 52% disapprove of Obama's job, which is the highest number for him since Aug. 2012. Americans also are worried about economic mobility. Of the respondents who identified themselves as poor or working class, only 29% say it’s likely they’ll be in the middle class over the next several years, down from 36% who said this in 1998. And when asked what worries respondents the most in their lives, the top answers -- they were allowed up to two -- were health care (34%), saving enough for retirement (29%), paying for groceries and utility bills (26%), and the cost of college (21%). Note: Down on this list was job security (17%), which suggests that many Americans aren’t struggling to find jobs; rather they’re struggling IN THEIR JOBS with wage stagnation especially as the cost of health, education and retirement all go up.