So the Bush Administration has released numbers early showing that the number of people living below the poverty line has increased by 1.3 million this year, and the number of people living without health insurance jumped 1.4 million. I have to say that during the last few years, Heather and I have felt like we've been running on a tighter and tighter budget despite the fact we've been making more money, cutting down our insurance bill among others, and buying more bulk foods.
I also heard a statistic the other day that said that the last two years have the been first time in America that incomes have not increased since the Great Depression. (I can't find the link, so don't put much stock in the figure. If I can't dig through the statistics, I can't trust it on face value, I'm not going to ask you to trust me second-hand.)
So what's going on here? Are we sinking economically or is this just the economy shaking off the last bit of cruft before returning to strength leaner and meaner?
I can't say personally, but I admit that I'm a little worried.
I keep hearing that we are in a "recovery" stage. Because I'm a full-time student, part-time administrative assistant, and business owner, I don't feel I fit into any statistical data category and it makes me wonder how they come up with accurate numbers.