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POSTED: 11:24 a.m. EDT, Mar 16, 2008
After publishing findings that show Americans are earning less than their parents, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups. Here's some of what they said:
Jimmy Taylor, 58, of Cuyahoga Falls: ''No matter how much money you accrue, all you need is one health-care catastrophe and you're wiped out. So there's no amount of money that will make you feel safe. What's happening in our country is indicative of every major nation in the world. You have the rich and the poor; the middle class is unique in the Western world. Most other countries have the rich and the poor. So in the future, that's probably what it's going to look like for us: rich — and poor.''
Brenda Cook, 47, of Uniontown: ''Look at your paycheck, and it looks pretty good until you do your bills. It sounds like a great living. And it's not even always the huge (expenses) — the mortgage, the car payments or whatever. It's the little stuff. Little stuff meaning groceries. Gas in your car. Clothes for whoever needs them. Senior pictures. Surprise repairs.''
Robert Caetta, 56, of Ravenna: ''I always thought the American dream — success — was being able to support your family. Like if the washer broke tomorrow that you wouldn't have to think, 'Oh, my God, what am I going to do now? Now I have to save for six months to buy it.' To me, the American dream is that if the washer broke on Monday, you went to Sears on Tuesday and said, 'That's the one I want. Deliver it.' That you could do that and provide that type of security for your family. When you got to that point, that to me was the American dream.'
Sue Kelewae, 58, of Massillon: ''The politicians come from the wealthy. Most of us here are in the middle class. The politicians have no clue of the people in the poverty class. And pretty soon, (with) that gap between the middle class and them, they are not going to understand. So yes, I do firmly believe as a democracy that we have a grass-roots obligation to not let (the middle class) go away.''
Sharae Smith, 30, of Akron: ''When you look at years ago, people worked at Goodyear or Firestone and the moms got to stay at home. They had three or four children, those children went to college. And the wages were lower 15 to 20 years ago. You think, 'Why can't we do that today?' We are the children of those people. We went to college and then we come out and find out we can't even make the $26, $27 an hour that they were making. Even though we have degrees.''
Tom Fuller, 61, of Akron: ''I think that in a global society we hold a privileged position in this country. And those folks who live at subsistence level, who can move up the chain a few notches, may do so at our expense.''
Elizabeth Wilkerson of Akron: ''I'm pretty sure I'll be all right. Our house is paid off; my husband's at retirement age. He has a pension; I have a 401(k). We have other property, and we have investments. I think we'll be OK, I just hope my kids will be OK and don't end up living with me. . . . I worry about them, I don't worry about us.''
Bill Jelen, 43, of Uniontown: ''My father worked basically in a sweatshop. His dream for us was to go to school and do better. I worked at the same place for 12 years and figured I would work there for 30 and out. . . . Now I'm self employed and running my own business. I'm my own boss, so I will never get fired.''
After publishing findings that show Americans are earning less than their parents, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups. Here's some of what they said:
Jimmy Taylor, 58, of Cuyahoga Falls: ''No matter how much money you accrue, all you need is one health-care catastrophe and you're wiped out. So there's no amount of money that will make you feel safe. What's happening in our country is indicative of every major nation in the world. You have the rich and the poor; the middle class is unique in the Western world. Most other countries have the rich and the poor. So in the future, that's probably what it's going to look like for us: rich — and poor.''
Brenda Cook, 47, of Uniontown: ''Look at your paycheck, and it looks pretty good until you do your bills. It sounds like a great living. And it's not even always the huge (expenses) — the mortgage, the car payments or whatever. It's the little stuff. Little stuff meaning groceries. Gas in your car. Clothes for whoever needs them. Senior pictures. Surprise repairs.''
Robert Caetta, 56, of Ravenna: ''I always thought the American dream — success — was being able to support your family. Like if the washer broke tomorrow that you wouldn't have to think, 'Oh, my God, what am I going to do now? Now I have to save for six months to buy it.' To me, the American dream is that if the washer broke on Monday, you went to Sears on Tuesday and said, 'That's the one I want. Deliver it.' That you could do that and provide that type of security for your family. When you got to that point, that to me was the American dream.'
Sue Kelewae, 58, of Massillon: ''The politicians come from the wealthy. Most of us here are in the middle class. The politicians have no clue of the people in the poverty class. And pretty soon, (with) that gap between the middle class and them, they are not going to understand. So yes, I do firmly believe as a democracy that we have a grass-roots obligation to not let (the middle class) go away.''
Sharae Smith, 30, of Akron: ''When you look at years ago, people worked at Goodyear or Firestone and the moms got to stay at home. They had three or four children, those children went to college. And the wages were lower 15 to 20 years ago. You think, 'Why can't we do that today?' We are the children of those people. We went to college and then we come out and find out we can't even make the $26, $27 an hour that they were making. Even though we have degrees.''
Tom Fuller, 61, of Akron: ''I think that in a global society we hold a privileged position in this country. And those folks who live at subsistence level, who can move up the chain a few notches, may do so at our expense.''
Elizabeth Wilkerson of Akron: ''I'm pretty sure I'll be all right. Our house is paid off; my husband's at retirement age. He has a pension; I have a 401(k). We have other property, and we have investments. I think we'll be OK, I just hope my kids will be OK and don't end up living with me. . . . I worry about them, I don't worry about us.''
Bill Jelen, 43, of Uniontown: ''My father worked basically in a sweatshop. His dream for us was to go to school and do better. I worked at the same place for 12 years and figured I would work there for 30 and out. . . . Now I'm self employed and running my own business. I'm my own boss, so I will never get fired.''
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