NYT- America's 'Near Poor' Are Increasingly at Economic Risk, Experts Say

[Cassius23]

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Abbotts date their tailspin to a collapse in demand for the aviation-related electronic parts that Stephen sold in better times, when he earned about $40,000 a year.

He lost his job in late 2001, unemployment benefits ran out over the next year and he and his wife, Laurie, along with their teenage son, were evicted from their apartment.

...SNIP...

Americans on the lower rungs of the economic ladder have always been exposed to sudden ruin. But in recent years, with the soaring costs of housing and medical care and a decline in low-end wages and benefits, tens of millions are living on even shakier ground than before, according to studies of what some scholars call the "near poor."



Original Article Link- Must have account
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/us/08poverty.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=login

P.S.- First post of a News article, please forgive any errors, but this is one of my hot button points and I wanted it to be at DU.

[norml]

1. America's 'Near Poor' Are Increasingly at Economic Risk, Experts Say

America's 'Near Poor' Are Increasingly at Economic Risk, Experts Say

By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: May 8, 2006


Monica Almeida/The New York Times
Machele Sauer with her daughters Cassandra, 15, and Katie, 8.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Abbotts date their tailspin to a collapse in demand for the aviation-related electronic parts that Stephen sold in better times, when he earned about $40,000 a year.


Monica Almeida/The New York Times
Ms. Sauer shops for groceries with Katie and Kayla, 16 months.

He lost his job in late 2001, unemployment benefits ran out over the next year and he and his wife, Laurie, along with their teenage son, were evicted from their apartment.

They spent a year in a borrowed motor home here in the working-class interior of Orange County, followed by eight months in a motel room with a kitchenette. During that time, Ms. Abbott, a diabetic who is now 51, lost all her teeth and could not afford to replace them.

"Since I didn't have a smile," she recalled, "I couldn't even work at a checkout counter."

Americans on the lower rungs of the economic ladder have always been exposed to sudden ruin. But in recent years, with the soaring costs of housing and medical care and a decline in low-end wages and benefits, tens of millions are living on even shakier ground than before, according to studies of what some scholars call the "near poor."


snip


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/us/08poverty.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=login&oref=slogin

[BR_Parkway]

2. But our economy is the best it's been in years, I heard em say it right

there on FAUX news. Why do these people make this stuff up - just to hurt Our Dear Leader and get in the way of our righteous mission. If they don't like the way things are going, they should find another country to live in.

:sarcasm:

Sadly, I can actually hear those words coming out of the mouths of some of our Compassionate Conservatives. And the loudest, most vicious ones will be the same people who are barely above these folks on the economic ladder.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. a lot of them are in the same boat...

but won't admit it out-loud. Their heads explode when they make the connection.

[BR_Parkway]

4. My fundie uncle said the other day that the prices were going up on

everything because of all those "liberals" in Congress! WTF!?!?!

I couldn't get him to name one person in Congress besides Hillary and Ted Kennedy.

[genieroze]

5. I guess he still likes Kool-Aid.