Although many official measurements show the economy is recovering,
millions of Americans still don't feel like they've recovered from the Great
Recession. While official unemployment rates have declined and approximately 10
million private sector jobs have been added since June 2009, many say those
numbers don't tell the full story.
As of August 2014, 3 million Americans had been unemployed
for more than six months, and more than 2 million had been unemployed for more
than a year, according to a new study from the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development
at Rutgers University. And even among those who are employed, like Greene, many
are underemployed or simply holding placeholder jobs until they can find a more
fulfilling (and, often, higher-paying) position.
Beyond the official Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, the
Economic Policy Institute (EPI) estimates there are another 6.3 million
"missing workers" who are not being counted as unemployed.
Long-term unemployment and underemployment has had lasting
effects: Most of the long-term unemployed say they have less in savings and
income than they did five years ago, have experienced stress in family
relationships and close friendships during their time without a job, and
believe they will need to retire later than planned because of the recession,
according to the Heldrich study.
Nearly half of the long-term unemployed said it will take
three to 10 years for their families to recover financially, while another 1 in
5 say it will take longer than that or that they will never recover.
Many of those who are getting jobs are struggling to get
ahead financially too. That's because many of the jobs that have been created
since the recession don't pay as well as those that were lost. Many of the jobs
that disappeared during the recession were high- and middle-wage positions.
Most of those added back are in low-wage occupations. That means people may be
employed but they aren't getting ahead—or even catching up with their former
selves.
A recent report by
the U.S. Conference of Mayors and IHS Global Insight found that new jobs pay 23
percent less than the positions lost in the recession. The wage gap is
"significantly larger" than that of the country's last recession and
recovery, the report found, and implies $93 billion in lower wage income.
In addition, many of those who are now working part-time
hours may no longer be counted among the unemployed even though they would
prefer full-time jobs. Others, like
Mitch Dowell, 43, have launched their own micro-businesses to make ends meet.
After being laid off from a marketing job in May 2010, the Washington D.C.
resident never found full-time work. To keep his family afloat, he started a
one-man graphic design company.
Americans who have not experienced a recovery have learned
to live with a new financial reality.
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