The Great Recession did not affect all areas equally

Eastern, rural areas weathered the storm better than the rest of the country

By Dean Calbreath
Friday, September 24, 2010 at 3:11 p.m.
The Associated Press

If the recession was declared over in June 2009, then why does the economy feel so awful?

Although the Great Recession has been a nationwide phenomenon, it hasn’t affected all Americans equally, according to a survey released Friday by the Pew Research Center.

In fact, the nation is closely split between people who lost ground during the recession and people who have held their own, the center said.

The center estimates that 55 percent of Americans have been hit by unemployment, paycuts or other serious financial problems over the past three years, while 45 percent have survived the recession mostly free of such difficulties.

Among those who lost ground, 43 percent were jobless at some point during the recession and 42 percent had to borrow money from friends or family to pay their bills. Forty-four percent said they had to make major changes to their lifestyles. In contrast, no one who held their own was unemployed, had to significantly change the way they lived, experienced difficulties paying for housing or was forced to borrow money from others at any point during the recession.

Nearly 70 percent of retirees and other older adults largely held their own, while a similar number of 20-somethings lost ground.

Easterners were more likely than residents of the South, West or Midwest to have held their own - perhaps because the Sunbelt got hit the worst by the housing crash. Suburban and rural residents experienced fewer problems than city dwellers.

Nearly 60 percent of college graduates held their own, compared with just 38 percent of those with a high school diploma or less.

Unemployment and foreclosure data show that San Diego County - a Western, largely urban area with 53 percent of adults having a high school diploma or less (roughly the national average) - has been hit harder than other areas by the recession.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... s-equally/