“Kevin Price is one emergency away from not being able to cover his basic needs, but he doesn’t fit the stereotype of someone living on the financial edge.
Price lives in a three-bedroom house with his wife and two children in a suburb of Wilmington, Del. The family owns two cars, the kids participate in high school sports, and they all attend church services regularly. Price works full-time, as does his wife, and thanks to her job, the family has access to health insurance. But after covering rent, the cost of insurance for Price, his wife and their two children and other basic expenses, the couple had just $223 left in the bank in January.
Of his precarious financial situation, Price, 44, said, “It’s like Muzak in the back of your head. It’s a constant little annoyance.”
Price and his family aren’t alone in dealing with this constant threat. Nearly 44 percent of American households don’t have enough savings to cover their basic expenses for three months in the event of a financial emergency like losing a job or paying for unexpected medical care, according to a recent report from the Corporation for Enterprise Development. That figure has changed little from last year, the Assets and Opportunity Scorecard found.
“These are households and individuals that are living paycheck-to-paycheck. And without savings, you’re one misstep away from financial disaster,” Justin King, federal policy liaison for the New America Foundation, told The Huffington Post.
The Great Recession and its aftermath brought the plight of Americans facing financial insecurity to the forefront, Andrea Levere, president of the CFED, told The Huffington Post.
“It’s really a mainstream issue,” Levere said. “The good piece about this recession is that this issue isn’t just about ‘those poor people,’ it’s about half of us.” ..”
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