The “Real” America: Near Record 20% Struggle To Afford Food, Highest Since Crisis Began; Years after recession, many in U.S. still struggling

The “Real” America: Near Record 20% Struggle To Afford Food, Highest Since Crisis Began

Tyler Durden on 09/12/2013 10:00 -0400

With US equity markets on a 7-day roll and excited TV anchors proclaiming the worst over and new all-time highs must signal recovery as they ‘celebrate’ five years on from Lehman, the following two charts of the state of real America should open a few eyes to just how blinded American has become to the truth (unless you live it). A stunning 20.0% of Americans were found to have struggled to afford food in the last year – surging in recent months to its highest since the peak of the crisis in 2008 – as American’s ability to consistently afford food has notrecovered to pre-recession levels. Furthermore, Americans access to basic needs (13 factors including housing, healthcare, and food) hovers near record lows – dramatically lower than pre-recession levels. The Gallup polls point to a very different image of American than Dow 15,000 – and is set to get worse as the food stamp program is set to be cut in November.More Americans are struggling to afford food — nearly as many as did during the recent recession. The 20.0% who reported in August that they have, at times, lacked enough money to buy the food that they or their families needed during the past year, is up from 17.7% in June, and is the highest percentage recorded since October 2011. The percentage who struggle to afford food now is close to the peak of 20.4% measured in November 2008, as the global economic crisis unfolded.

Americans remain as likely to have access to basic necessities in general now as they were in October 2011, when it was at its lowest point. The Basic Access Index, which includes 13 questions about topics including Americans’ ability to afford food, housing, and healthcare, was 81.4 in August, on par with the all-time low of 81.2 recorded in October 2011.

 

Gallup Implications

One in five Americans reported in August that they did not have enough money to buy the food that they or their family needed in the past year, more than said so earlier this year and near highs seen since 2008. Similarly, Americans’ overall access to basic necessities has not recovered to the levels seen before the economic crisis. These findings suggest that theeconomic recovery may be disproportionately benefitting upper-income Americans rather than those who are struggling to fulfill their basic needs. 

Stagnant wages are one possible reason why Americans’ ability to afford food and other basic needs has not improved since the recession. According to an August 2013 Wall Street Journal analysis of Labor Department data, “the average hourly pay for a nongovernment, non-supervisory worker, adjusted for price increases, declined to $8.77 [in July 2013] from $8.85 at the end of the recession in June 2009.” Depressed wages are likely negatively affecting the economic recovery by reducing consumer spending, but another serious and costly implication may be that fewer Americans are able to consistently afford food and meet other basic needs.

Increasing wages alone, however, is not enough to significantly increase the percentage of Americans who have the ability to afford food. Federal government programs also play a role in addressing this issue. As food stamp (SNAP) enrollment increases, Republicans in Congress are proposing substantial cuts and reforms to the program, while Democrats are resisting such reductions.Regardless, food stamp benefits are set to be reduced in November after a provision of the 2009 fiscal stimulus program expires. Therefore, it is possible that even more Americans may struggle to afford food in the immediate future.

Via Gallup

Years after recession, many in U.S. still struggling, polls show

Thu, Sep 12 2013

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Four years after the recession officially ended, many American adults are still struggling to recover financially with lower incomes and, in some cases, going hungry, according to two surveys released on Thursday that underscored the unevenness of the U.S. economic recovery.

Twenty percent of U.S. adults – one in five – polled last month said that at times in the past year they did not have enough money to buy food for themselves or their families, according to Gallup’s findings.

That’s nearly as many hungry Americans as in 2008, when the nation was submerged in its deepest economic slump since the Great Depression nearly 80 years earlier, the national polling firm said.

“These findings suggest that the economic recovery may be disproportionately benefiting upper-income Americans rather than those who are struggling to fulfill their basic needs,” it said.

With the future of the nation’s food-stamp program in doubt in Congress and continuing stagnant wages for U.S. workers, “It is possible that even more Americans may struggle to afford food in the immediate future,” Gallup added.

Gallup found that Americans’ overall access to basic necessities such as food, housing and healthcare in August continued at the near-record lows that emerged during the recent recession, which economists said began in late 2007 and ended in mid-2009, even as many Americans still struggle to find their financial footing.

A separate poll by the Pew Research Center found more than half of U.S. adults, about 54 percent, said last week they feel their household incomes have “hardly recovered at all” from the downturn.

A majority of Americans, or 63 percent, also said the U.S. economic system was no more secure now than before the recession, according to the Pew survey, also released on Thursday. For many, the nation’s job situation was their top concern, it added.

The two surveys come ahead of the annual measure of income and poverty from the U.S. Census Bureau to be released on September 19.

Last week, the government’s annual “Food Security” report found that 14.5 percent of American households, or 17.6 million families, “had difficulty at some time” in getting enough to eat during 2012, meaning they ran out of food, didn’t have money to buy enough food, skipped meals or lost weight for lack of food.

That official food insecurity rate was essentially unchanged since 2008, when the recession and rising unemployment drove up the number of people short of food, the report from the Agriculture Department showed. (For a Reuters graphic, see: link.reuters.com/pyv92v)

Against this backdrop, a federal program aimed at helping Americans stave off hunger has become a political hostage in Washington, where lawmakers are dueling over funding for the food stamp effort amid a wider farm bill and a larger effort to pass a government budget.

The Republican-led House of Representatives has vowed to cut up to $40 billion from the program, formally named Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), an effort condemned by Democrats, who control the Senate.

Negotiations over the farm bill and food stamps, the largest U.S. anti-hunger program, could begin as soon as this month.

At latest count, nearly 48 million Americans, or 15 percent of the population of 314 million, received food stamp assistance, according to USDA.

Gallup said it was likely that a variety of factors, including depressed wages, were to blame for hunger. But it added, “increasing wages alone, however, is not enough to significantly increase the percentage of Americans who have the ability to afford food.”

Average hourly earnings bounced back in August after weak readings in July, according to recent U.S. data that suggested the economy was struggling to regain momentum.

Many workers are also still struggling with reduced hours, which also affects their overall take-home pay.

The Gallup findings, which have a margin-of-error rate of between 0.6 and 0.8 percentage point, were drawn from Gallup’s monthly well-being telephone survey of nearly 16,000 U.S. adults in August.

The Pew report was drawn from its survey of 1,506 adults conducted September 4-8 and has a margin-of-error rate of nearly 3 percentage points.