To understand some of the difficulties facing America’s families today, you need to examine only one shocking data point: Day care for a single child under age four costs more than college and just about the same as monthly rent. At least that’s according to a recent report by [Keep reading]
Roughly half of American workers would make their money in the “gig” economy if they had their way, a new survey suggests. And already, about 60 million Americans do. Or, maybe it’s only a few hundred thousand people who are gig workers now. It all depends on how you count. [Keep reading]
What do you do when you are a Midwestern town of about 12,000 people and your main employer pulls out, taking 10,000 jobs with it? You circle the wagons, call home the kids, embrace change, and trade in 20th Century industries for 21st Century industries. And hope for good luck. [Keep reading]
There’s been a lot of talk lately about why first-time home buyers are sitting on the sidelines. Here’s some data that may help explain why: Low-cost starter homes are simply disappearing from the market, and the ones that still exist are being gobbled up by investors and turned into rentals [Keep reading]
Here’s all you need to know about the fragile state of the American middle class. An online payday-type lender named Elevate Credit sees the middle class as its target market. “Decades–long macroeconomic trends and the recent financial crisis have resulted in a growing ‘New Middle Class’ with little to no [Keep reading]
Is buying a first home becoming more a privilege than an American birthright? That’s the provocative question posed recently by Issi Romem, chief economist of BuildZoom.com. And he answers it, cautiously, with data suggesting it’s true. Romem’s most concerning assertion: Young buyers have nearly 10% higher incomes than they did [Keep reading]
If you want to know why home prices are out of whack in America, look at our lousy schools. One oft-overlooked element of home pricing is the scarcity of good public schools in America. Overlooked by everyone except young families, of course, who know quite well how much good “free” schools cost. [Keep reading]
I had a depressing conversation recently with someone who does big housing construction deals for a big bank. There’s only two types of deals that work, he said. 1) Building pricey, premium granite countertop homes for well-off folks or 2) Building affordable housing with government subsidies. Roughly speaking: construction for [Keep reading]
We need drugs to sleep at night. Nearly half of us don’t have enough in a bank account to cover next month’s expenses, let alone any real head start towards retirement. We buy homes with mortgage payments our parents couldn’t fathom, or we make student loan payments almost that large. [Keep reading]
There’s been years of media reports ringing the alarm bell about binge drinking; where’s the horror at the new epidemic of binge working? When friends brag they are pulling all-nighters at work, please don’t laugh. Please tell them to get help. If you haven’t noticed this disturbing trend, I’ll lay [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan