By: Team Sherrod

Despite the GOP’s continued insistence that everyone is benefiting from their tax scam, this is the reality:

Families all over the country are still struggling to afford rent, healthcare, and food. We need to do better. And that starts with re-electing Sherrod, who looks out for all Americans, not just the wealthy few.

CBS News: Almost half of Americans can’t pay for their basic needs

Aimee Picchi – August 28, 2018

Key points:

• Four in 10 Americans are struggling to pay for their basic needs such as groceries or housing, a problem even middle-class households confront, according to a new study from the Urban Institute.

• Despite the U.S. economy being near full employment, 39.4% of adults between 18 and 64 years old said they experienced at least one type of material hardship in 2017, according to the study, which surveyed more than 7,500 adults about whether they had trouble paying for housing, utilities, food or healthcare.

• Against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s boasting about low unemployment and strong economic growth, the research adds nuance to the problems facing American families.

• Low-income households reported the highest share of hardship. For instance, more than 40% of poor and near-poor adults, or those below and slightly above the federal poverty level, experienced food insecurity, compared with about 23% across all income groups.

• Minorities report higher rates of hardship than whites, while women are almost 7 percentage points more likely to struggle to meet their basic needs than men.

• Holding a job also doesn’t provide immunity to hardship, the study found. One of three families with at least one working adult said they had trouble meeting at least one basic need, such as paying for food or utilities.

• Almost 60% of Americans with multiple chronic medical conditions experienced material hardship in 2017, compared with about 33% of adults without any chronic illnesses, they found.

Read more here.