The government shutdown spotlights a bigger issue: 78% of US workers live paycheck to paycheck

[babylonsister]

The government shutdown spotlights a bigger issue: 78% of US workers live paycheck to paycheck
Published Wed, Jan 9 2019 • 10:39 AM EST • Updated Wed, Jan 9 2019 • 2:22 PM EST
Emmie Martin


The partial government shutdown, which began Dec. 22, has now stretched well into the new year. President Donald Trump said Friday that it would continue for “months or even years” until he receives the requested $5 billion in funding for a border wall.

The shutdown has left approximately 800,000 federal workers in financial limbo. Around 420,000 “essential” employees are working without pay, while another 380,000 have been ordered to stay home, according to calculations provided to CNBC by Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University.

In some cases, the furloughs have forced government employees to tap into their savings, rely on credit cards or crowdsource funds to make ends meet.

Government workers are far from alone in feeling stressed about not getting paid. Nearly 80 percent of American workers (78 percent) say they’re living paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2017 report by employment website CareerBuilder. Women are particularly vulnerable: 81 percent of them report living paycheck to paycheck, compared with 75 percent of men.

Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, tells CNBC that the group has heard from hundreds of frantic federal employees. “They’re scared,” he says. “They don’t know how they’re going to put food on the table.”

Various #ShutdownStories making that point have gone viral on Twitter.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

more...

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/09/shutdown-highlights-that-4-in-5-us-workers-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html?fbclid=IwAR3IuY4qF_uepRbwBOg4nXHaV45cK4Wne5gSDzQ4H62tBzTSNQ6u33P6P6E

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

1. Drying up of resources (pay)

is the cause of almost all our problems. People w good jobs save money, spend, keep malls open, have peace of mind. Can live the American Dream. When jobs/resources dry up, folks look for scapegoats. Usually the wrong ones.

[democratisphere]

2. But we must continue to transfer all of the wealth to the wealthiest

in order to preserve their miserable greedy asses at everyone else's expense.

[Sherman A1]

3. Precisely

They need more homes, airplanes and bigger yachts.