Must see video

There is a must see video at Economists View by Elizabeth Warren of Harvard University at U. Berkley lecture series on the The Coming Collapse of the Midddle Class.

Noni Mausa says…

Take the time. Watch this, I just did. It explains exactly why the middle class is in trouble and where the money has gone.

Over on Angry Bear we were discussing who can afford children, in this post: Who Should Have Children? Or, If You Have To Ask, You Can’t Afford Them

I presented this question because many contributors to this and other blogs have said the poor shouldn’t have children if they can’t afford them. My question was, how much is enough? and offered these possible criteria:

1. A household income greater than the poverty line for that size of family.
2. In addition, income above that level sufficient to buy health insurance for that size of family.

3. Income dedicated to a life insurance policy for the family breadwinners.

4. Savings sufficient to pay all ordinary expenses for at least a year, including maintenance of the health insurance, in case of illness or job loss.

5. In addition, factor in a savings account strictly for the post secondary education of each child in the family.

It emerged that these modest requirements amounted to something over the median US income, plus all that dedicated savings. At this level childrearing was tricky, but probably doable.

I had privately thought that our conclusion — that half of American families couldn’t afford to raise children — was a bit extreme. Turns out from Dr. Warren’s numbers, I may have been correct. I would far rather have been disproved.

Noni

Rdan here. I posted the link to pass the ideas along, but expect more posts to result from the presentation and statistics.

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