A report from the James J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development out of Rutgers University details how the recession has affected workers. Categorizing the Unemployed by the Impact of the Recession uses a typology that classifies a group of 1,202 survey respondents who were surveyed at four points between August of 2008 and August of 2011based on the following Likert scale questions:
- How would you rate your own personal financial situation: excellent shape, good shape, only fair shape, or poor shape?
- Overall, has the recession caused: a major change in your lifestyle, a minor change in your lifestyle, or no change in your life style?
- Do you think the impact on your standard of living will be permanent or temporary?
More than a third of survey respondents (36%) said they had experienced a major change in lifestyle and that their personal finances were either poor but temporary, fair but permanent, or poor and permanent. It is this entire group that the Heldrich Center classifies as devastated by the recession. The report goes on to identify those without a high school education, males, those between the ages of 45 and 59, those making less than $30,000 a year, and White residents as more likely to classify themselves as devastated. Finally, more than half of those survey respondents classified as devastated responded that in order to make ends meet they had to resort to at least one of the following actions:
- Sold possessions
- Borrowed money from family or friends
- Cut back on medical visits
- Reduced spending on food so much it affects daily life
Changes in income and employment have been the primary focus of data tracked by the Center on Human Needs in our efforts to measure societal distress as Americans cope with the recession. Indeed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data captured on our website, median income since 2007 when the recession began has declined by 6%, from $52,823 to $49,445 in 2010, the lowest income has fallen since 1996. The percentage of the population living in poverty has also increased from 12.5% in 2007 to 15.1% in 2010.
But the impact of the recession is evident in other metrics of the well-being of the American family as well. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that between 2007 and 2008–the first years of the recession–the prevalence of food insecurity among American households increased by a relative rate of 32% from 11.1% to 14.6%. In the most recent release of data, the prevalence remains at 14.5%, exhibiting little sign of recovery. In addition, the prevalence of very low food insecurity–a measure of an even more precarious household situation in getting enough food–increased from 4.1% in 2007 to 5.7% in 2008 and remains at 5.4% in 2010.
The Heldrich’s report suggests that in response to dire economic situations, some families are resorting to cutting back on medical care they would have otherwise received. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that between 2007 and 2010, the percentage of Americans under the age of 65 who were uninsured increased from 16.8% to 18.5%. During the same time frame, the percentage of persons who did not receive medical care due to cost increased from 5.8% in 2007 to 6.8% in 2010.
The effects of the recession span beyond metrics of employment and income and into a variety of areas that affect the well-being of American families. The Project on Societal Distress details this information using the most up to date and reliable information available. Visit us at http://www.humanneeds.vcu.edu/PoSD.aspx to learn more.