Financial Well-Being in US: It’s All Good, or Is It?

It’s all good! Saying the figures demonstrate the improved “material well-being of families in the United States,” the percentage of income spent by Americans for the daily necessities of food, clothing, and housing has decreased dramatically since 1901, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The BLS report, 100 Years of U.S. Consumer Spending, reveals that in 1901, the average U.S. family devoted 79.8 percent of its spending to these necessities, while families in New York City spent 80.3 percent, and families in Boston allocated 86.0 percent.

By 2002–03, spending on necessities had been reduced substantially, for U.S. families nationwide to 50.1 percent of spending, for New York City families to 56.7 percent, and for Boston families to 53.8 percent.

Or is it? According to a 2001 Census Bureau report, forty-nine million Americans -- about one person in five -- lived in a household that suffered at least one difficulty in meeting a basic need, including eating, going to the doctor or dentist, or paying the rent during 1996.

In August 2004, the Census Bureau reported that the number of uninsured Americans rose by 1.4 million to 15.6 percent, or 45 million, in 2003, up from 15.2 percent in 2002, the third straight annual increase. Meanwhile, the nation’s poverty rate also climbed to 12.5 percent in 2003, from 12.1 percent in 2002.

Who can you believe? The bottom line is that the real state of the U.S. economy cannot be adequately expressed in dueling, broad-brush statistics from federal agencies applied to “average” Americans. The real state of the U.S. economy is how it is for you and your family.

Also See
Paying the Bills, Or Not
Number of US Uninsured, Poverty Rate Both Climb