Actually I’m posting this even though it’s just a report in Michigan because some areas of the world are a little like canaries carried down into mines as a warning system….

I know Oppie lives near Kalamazoo so I know he’s keenly aware of some of this.  To keep their noses barely above water, my older sister, her husband, my niece and her three children, my nephew and his wife ALL live in the same house and try pooling their incomes.  My sister just started receiving Social Security and only NOW has medical insurance for herself.  At the age of 50 she worked in one of the auto parts factories and was pulled off assembly because she became at the age of 50 a health risk on their insurance.  Her husband worked and lived in another State for 11 years and sent funds home but is now retired.  Her nephew works earning cash under the table at odd jobs (he has no medical insurance) and his wife sometimes helps but has been ill (without insurance) for many years-she just now received funds for food and medical assistance.  My niece has been the main support for everyone and has received no help from the father of her children.  ALL the children are on medical health assistance and have been; my niece however, has had no health or dental insurance for many years. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080827/ap_on_re_us/poverty_michigan

Incomes fall in Michigan, number in poverty rises

By JOHN FLESHER, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 27, 4:43 AM ET

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Government data painted a bleak economic picture for Michigan, where the auto industry’s downward plunge has rippled across the state.

Michigan was the only state where poverty rose last year, as well as the only one where incomes fell, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released Tuesday that illustrate the uniqueness of the state’s economic swoon.

“It’s really a depressing picture,” said Amy Rynell, director of the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty, an advocacy group based in Chicago.

Michigan’s poverty rate was 14 percent, up from 13.5 percent in 2006 and more than a full percentage point above the national rate, which was virtually unchanged during the same period. The state’s rate has grown steadily since 2000, when it was just above 10 percent. The number of people in poverty increased by 45,000 during 2006-07.

The 2007 median income in Michigan was $47,950, down 1.2 percent or $596 from the 2006 median of $48,546. The state’s nationwide ranking slid from 24th to 27th.

Nationwide, the median household income rose to $50,233, a modest increase of $665 from the previous year, although it was the third consecutive annual rise. While the overall poverty rate held steady at 12.5 percent, Latinos, children and the foreign-born — demographic categories that overlap considerably — experienced significant increases.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has emphasized diversifying the state’s economy, promoting growth of industries such as defense contracting, alternative energy and film production. The Democratic governor and lawmakers this year boosted tax incentives for businesses adding jobs.

Last week, Granholm announced 20 new business expansions or relocations expected to bring $658 million in new investment to the state.

Whether such improvements will be enough to offset continued gloomy news from the automotive sector remains to be seen. But the 2007 statistics, reported in the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, offer little reason for optimism.

They also showed Michigan’s rate of “extreme poverty” — a yearly income of less than half the poverty threshold, or $10,325 for a family of four — jumped from 6 percent in 2006 to 6.5 percent last year. Eight years ago, the rate was 4.8 percent.

“We know that people with incomes that low are living in unsafe conditions,” Rynell said. “Children probably are not getting enough healthy food to eat. People may be living in shelters. Seniors are likely skipping dosages of medication to make ends meet.”

The child poverty rate increased from 17.8 percent to 19 percent between 2006-07, while the national rate stood at 17.6 percent.

Detroit’s poverty rate of 33.8 percent was highest among cities of 250,000 or more, while Kalamazoo and Flint tied for fifth among cities of 65,000 to 249,999 people. Both had rates of 35.5 percent.

“We know that many people are struggling harder and harder just to get by, and more vulnerable people are turning to public services for help,” said Sharon Parks, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Human Services. “This reinforces the need to strengthen our strained safety net, and policymakers must pay attention to these startling figures.”

In another report released Tuesday, the Census Bureau said 11 percent of Michigan residents had no health insurance coverage in 2007 — up from 10.4 percent in 2006 and 9.1 percent at the beginning of the decade.

But that was one category in which Michigan fared better than most other states. The national average of uninsured citizens was 15.5 percent, and Michigan ranked 11th best nationally in providing health coverage.

More than 18 percent of Michigan residents get some type of assistance through the state Department of Human Services, said Sheryl Thompson, acting director of outstate operations.

Although general cash assistance is declining, programs that provide food and emergency help with energy and medical bills are growing steadily. The Food Assistance Program is up 136 percent since December 2000.

Granholm will attend a “poverty summit” Nov. 13 in Detroit to discuss strategies for dealing with the problem, said Edward Woods III, spokesman for the department.

___

I live near Lansing which is in the center of the mitten portion of the state and the seat of our state government. Foreclosures and people leaving the state due to lack of jobs is rampant. I am well below the median income based on the report. I make $9,000 less than the median amount and give out $9000 in child and spousal support from my gross income. I guess to answer your earlier thread Huli - I am in poverty, but my paycheck doesn’t show it.

My ex was laid off from her job this month (August) and has moved to Tennessee with her parents temporarily, we both lost our house to foreclosure, my daughter is living with me (I am living with another family), my son is living with his significant other’s family (and occasionally coming over to visit with me for extended periods of time).  My daughter is now out of school since she can’t afford to pay them the money she owes them to get current and take classes and as a result will lose her medical benefits that I have been carrying for her in October. My son will lose his in October as well - which does not bode well for his new daughter. Basically, I am the only person in my family of four that is still making money after nearly one year of divorce. All of us are without our own home. All of us are without personal transportation. Michigan sucks for us.

I have worked for our state government for over 20 years, but right now seems to be the worst I have ever seen it. The auto factories here are closing up and the state government is the only industry left in town. The main Oldsmobile plant (Fischer Body) closed it’s doors a while back and sold off it’s buildings. The main combined Buick, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac plant has had part of their main facility in Lansing demolished and laid off the workers to remodel, but it is taking a huge amount of time. The land they occupy has been empty for nearly a year now. If you go to Detroit it looks like some kind of apocolypse has hit in places - empty buildings and poverty evident everywhere.

This has been a gradual decline that started, I know, about over a decade ago but has been escalating now over the past five years.  So many of the auto plants have closed their doors and these were the greatest areas of employment.  Back in 1995 I remember sending resumes out that way when I was not able to find suitable (sustainable) employment here.  Since I had family there it was one of the areas I applied via mail.  I thought it strange that I’d been instructed to send to the courthouse in Hillsdale rather than a ‘headhunter’ or employment agency.  Apparently even then this was the central office for everything.  Since my employment history was in law and administration, and had nothing to do with factory work, I was advised there were no openings anywhere in a very wide geographical radius that met my credentials. 

I am reminded of people living in drought-ridden barrens in Africa and other third-world countries and listening to some readers say ‘why don’t they just move to where there IS water and food’ while shaking their heads aghast. 

As you said Oppie, there are reasons why people can’t just do what seems to be simple.  Once resources have been reduced to barely sustainable and you’ve likewise lost transportation, you’d have to walk….and where would you walk?  If you don’t have a promising destination you’d not survive.  Many people have families too ... is it feasible to move the entire family without the absolute promise of a secure destination? 

Searching out from a destitute area to find one of promise is also a very expensive process as well as difficult.  A long time ago I extended my search for employment out to the States from Maryland all the way to Florida, then to the west (including Michigan) and downward to Arizona.  The only real promise was Tucson who PROMISED to give me work.  Until I got there and the work barely paid, there were no health benefits and I noted that entire families that had likewise been lured were now standing in road medians with cardboard signs (mothers, fathers and their little children), asking to work for food.  If it had been a single family I would have noted it but moved along feeling great pity, BUT it was a circus of families.  The blood clinics stayed open with long lines every morning and through the day.  People were selling blood just to have enough money to buy a meal.  The shelters were full to overflowing so many were turned away. 

I am very concerned about what is happening in Michigan because I know, based on historical experience, that it will branch out sooner now, like an infection that turns plague.

While recessions are usual in any economical cycle, they’re usually short and stay local, either geographically or market-wise (but not any less hard on those involved). From what I’ve been reading lately, there is a lot more going on than that, with markets, otherwise not reliant on each other, failing or destabilising one after the other, and the economy as a whole appearing not to recover from it fast enough. From what I’ve learned about economics, the obvious hurdles I can see are:
1. the scarcity of resources, both food getting more expensive faster than it should and metals being used in faraway blooming economies (China). Neither something that will change soon. (although farmers around here have been switching back to foodstuffs from biofuel)
2. the credit problems as experienced by mainly US banks. Mostly confined to the US, with some serious fall-out here in Europe as well. And something that will give the Americans trouble for some time. But the most dangerous about this is the possibility of a new “Great depression”. If there is no “piggy bank” with the banks or the government (Irak is expensive) and a decreased trust in the US-dollar. it doesn’t take much to get into a downward spiral, dragging Europe and then China with it.

I think we should hope a situation like in Michigan doesn’t spread to other industry sectors, or this might later be seen as the beginning of a new great depression.

Note, I’m a pessimist when it comes to these things, anyone know where I should keep my savings to keep ‘em from evaporating? Even gold seems to be in trouble.

FrostBird - 27 August 2008 05:26 PM

2. the credit problems as experienced by mainly US banks. Mostly confined to the US, with some serious fall-out here in Europe as well. And something that will give the Americans trouble for some time. But the most dangerous about this is the possibility of a new “Great depression”. If there is no “piggy bank” with the banks or the government (Irak is expensive) and a decreased trust in the US-dollar. it doesn’t take much to get into a downward spiral, dragging Europe and then China with it.

One of the newest things that has come out of this, is that the US is having more & more foreign owners for large corporations and real estate.  It’s being bought up by foreign entities at a very high rate.  Give the sellers a slight windfall, but what do they have after the pay their debts??  Nothing.  I suppose it’s not like it couldn’t become American controlled…it’s just a very odd feeling to see things change like this.