Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/682236
ByKenSweetandEmily Swanson The Associated Press NEW YORK Two-thirds of Americans would have dif- ficulty coming up with the money to cover a $1,000 emergency, according to an exclusive poll released Thursday, a signal that de- spite years after the Great Recession, Americans' fi- nances remain precarious as ever. These difficulties span all incomes, according to the poll conducted by The As- sociated Press-NORC Cen- ter for Public Affairs Re- search. Three-quarters of people in households mak- ing less than $50,000 a year and two-thirds of those making between $50,000 and $100,000 would have difficulty coming up with $1,000 to cover an unex- pected bill. Even for the country's wealthiest 20 percent — households making more than $100,000 a year — 38 percent say they would have at least some difficulty com- ing up with $1,000. "The more we learn about the balance sheets of Americans, it becomes quite alarming," said Caro- line Ratcliffe, a senior fel- low at the Urban Institute focusing on poverty and emergency savings issues. Mitchell Timme, 26, said that his wages have re- mained flat for the last few years while his cost of living has increased. Once every- thing is paid "there's noth- ing left to save," he said. "It definitely adds stress to everyday life. It hangs over you. While it's not something you would com- plain about every day, it's there. And it weighs on you," Timme said, who works at a security com- pany in Phoenix. Having a modest, imme- diately available emergency fund is recognized as criti- cal to financial health. Fam- ilies that have even a small amount of non-retirement savings, between $250 and $749, are less likely to be evicted from their homes and less likely to need pub- lic benefits, an Urban Insti- tute study found. "People are extremely vulnerable if they don't have savings," Ratcliffe said. "And it's a cost to taxpay- ers as well. Lack of savings can lead to homelessness, or other problems." Despite an absence ofsav- ings, two-thirds of Ameri- cans said they feel positive about their finances , ac- cording to survey data re- leased Wednesday by AP- NORC, a sign that they're managing day-to-day ex- penses fine. The challenge for many often comes from economic forces beyond their control such as a dip in the stock market that threatens their job or an un- expected medical bill. When faced with an un- expected $1,000 bill, a ma- jority of Americans said they wouldn't be especially likely to pay with money on hand, the AP-NORC survey found. A third said they would have to borrow from a bank or from friends and family, or put the bill on a credit card. Thirteen percent would skip paying other bills, and 11 percent said they would likely not pay the bill at all. Those numbers suggest most American families do not have at least $1,000 stashed away in a savings account, much less under their mattresses, to cover an emergency. Americans' struggle to save isn't new. Three CBS News and The New York Times polls going back more than 20 years show a majority of Americans would have difficulty cover- ing a $1,000 emergency. The AP-NORC results also corre- late with a 2015 study by the Federal Reserve in which 47 percent of respondents said they either could not cover a $400 emergency expense or would have to sell some- thing or borrow money. And the struggle impacts retirement savings as well. WhenAP-NORCaskedifthey will have enough savings to retire when they want to, 54 percent of working Ameri- cans say they are not very or not at all confident they will haveenough.Only14percent say they are confident they can retire on time. The AP-NORC findings il- luminate how many Amer- icans' frustrations over the economy, income inequality and financial insecurity has contributed to this dizzying presidential election. Billionaire business- man Donald Trump be- came the presumptive nominee for the Republi- can Party largely on a pop- ulist platform and a prom- ise to "Make America Great Again." On the left, social- ist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont captured voters with a message of disman- tling Wall Street and higher taxes on the rich. The reasons why Amer- icans don't save are com- plex. One economist says it's a holdover from the '70s and '80s, when high infla- tion ate into the value of money stashed in a savings account. Others say U.S. tax policy rewards saving money for retirement or taking out a mortgage over short-term emergencies. The Great Recession and lack of wage growth in re- cent years have not helped. In the same AP-NORC poll, 46 percent of workers said their wages have remained stagnant in the last five years, and another 16 per- cent said they've seen salary cuts. Meanwhile, costs for basic needs, such as food, housing and health care, have risen. FINANCES Poll: Two-thirds of US would struggle to cover $1K crisis By Sean Murphy The Associated Press OKLAHOMACITY Oklahoma lawmakers have moved to effectively ban abortion in their state by making it a felony for doctors to per- form the procedure, an ef- fort the bill's sponsor said Thursday is aimed at ulti- mately overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 deci- sion that legalized abortion nationwide. The bill , which abortion rights group Center for Re- productive Rights says is the first of its kind in the nation, also would restrict any physician who per- forms an abortion from ob- taining or renewing a li- cense to practice medicine in Oklahoma. It passed 33-12 Thursday with no discussion or de- bate; a handful of Republi- cans joined with Democrats in voting against the bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm. Okla- homa Gov. Mary Fallin, an anti-abortion Republican will withhold comment un- til her staff has time to re- view it, Fallin spokesman Michael McNutt said. Dahm made it clear that he hopes his bill could lead to overturning Roe v. Wade. "Since I believe life be- gins at conception, it should be protected, and I believe it's a core function of state government to defend that life from the beginning of conception," said Dahm, R- Broken Arrow. But abortion rights sup- porters — and the state's medical association — have said the bill is unconstitu- tional. Sen. Ervin Yen, an Oklahoma City Republican and the only physician in the Senate, described the mea- sure as "insane" and voted against it. "Oklahoma politicians have made it their mis- sion year after year to re- strict women's access vi- tal health care services, yet this total ban on abortion is a new low," Amanda Allen, anattorneyfortheNew-York based center said in a state- ment. "The Center for Re- productive Rights is closely watching this bill and we strongly urge Governor Fal- lin to reject this cruel and unconstitutional ban." Thursday's vote in the Senate comes as the Okla- homa Legislature nears a May 27 deadline for ad- journment and is still grap- pling with a $1.3 billion bud- get hole that could lead to deep cuts to public schools, health care and the state's overcrowded prison system. "Republicans don't have an answer for their failed education policies, failing health care policies and failing fiscal policies, so what do you do in that sit- uation?" said Senate Dem- ocratic leader Sen. John Sparks. "You come up with an emotional distraction. That's what this bill is." Nearly every year, Okla- homa lawmakers have passed bills imposing new restrictions on abortions, but many of those laws have never taken effect. In all, eight of the state's sep- arate anti-abortion mea- sures have been challenged in court as unconstitutional in the last five years. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case over an overturned Oklahoma law that would have required women to view of an ultrasound of her fetus before an abortion is performed. That same year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a law that would have effectively banned all drug-induced abortions in the state. In 2014, the state Legis- lature approved a law re- quiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, but a chal- lenge is pending before the Oklahoma Supreme Court. FELONY Oklahoma lawmakers approve bill criminalizing performing abortions MATTYORK—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Mitchell Timme works from his laptop computer at his home in Phoenix. Timme said his wages have remained flat in recent years as the cost of living has increased. FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 3 B