Economic Insecurity

A survey shows that nearly 80 percent of adults in the United States face some form of economic insecurity by age sixty.  The forms of insecurity are defined as unemployment, receiving a year or more of government assistance, or having an income below 150 percent of the poverty level.

It seems like this would include someone like me when I stopped out of school and had a very low income. It's not clear how many recent college graduates might experience poverty.  But the survey also indicates that the risk of poverty has increased in recent years for those aged 35 to 55.

Update (July 31):  This post makes the point that among the new poor are a number of college students who are homeless.  I should make it clear that I've been quite fortunate--that period of low income was never without family support, I was never homeless, and it amounted to a rather temporary situation.

I think that 80 percent figure (76 percent for whites, 90 percent for non-whites) does seem astounding to me.  I suppose a somewhat "ideal" experience would be to face that insecurity while young and then never again.  But that may not be the most common experience.

Update (August 21):  In a follow-up to the survey above, data is presented on the lifetime probability of living one year at the US Census defined poverty level.

The overall figure is 51 percent by age 75.  The biggest jump seems to happen between ages 25 and 35.

Update (March 19, 2016):  Thomas Hirschl and Mark Rank developed a calculator to estimate the chances of falling into poverty based on race, education, marital status, and age. More than half of Americans will experience poverty at some point in their working lives.

Update (December 18, 2018):  HUD reports that 553,000 people were homeless on a single night in January, an increase of 0.3 percent from 2017 and the second year of increase.