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Do we even trust our leaders to help?
Retiring old ideas about retirement
Social Security more solvent than most Americans realize
Focus group participants discuss retirement
Series looks at middle-class angst
Insurance misery has no easy cure
Health-care matchup finds Ohio falls short
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Family found dead in Ohio home
Robbers order bar patrons to empty pockets
Man gets 3 years in prison for having sex with horse
Sex-toy study at Duke University raises some eyebrows
Akron man turns himself in after authorities turn up heat
Get ready for detour, delays on Route 8
Man appears alive at own funeral
Blogs:
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Not 101 Dalmations…but close!
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Saturday entertainment, one more time …
Akron Zips:
No. 1 UA soccer remains perfect, Zips football defeats rival Flashes
Tribe Matters:
Tribe makes roster moves
Cleveland Browns:
Lewis doesn't like boycott
Kent State Sports:
Kent State falls to Akron, 20-28
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Knicks
Buckeye Blogging:
Weekly ‘B’ Deck Report – New Mexico St.
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Wrestling, bowling teams prepare for season
All Da King's Men:
Bigger And Better Boondoggles
Blog of Mass Destruction:
The Shooter
Akron Law Café:
NEW U.S. Supreme Court Database
See Jane Style:
Muffle Your Muffler
Car Chase:
Perfect Weather for an Autumn Drive
Let's Talk Real Estate:
RUMORS: Downtown Restaurant Explosion
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Jack is looking for a trip to Southern Ohio the week of November 16.
Sound Check:
The Black Keys to perform benefit concert at Musica on November 27
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – Why People Do Not Live in Northeast Ohio
Akron Gamer:
New 'Call of Duty' could set entertainment record
Published on Sunday, Mar 16, 2008
Today's story about a middle-class family is unusual for us. We don't name the family.
The reason?
As we began last October to research the struggling middle class, one thing was eminently clear: Lots of people in our community are feeling the same pressures, but they are — understandably — reluctant to expose their concerns so candidly.
This family, by agreeing to completely bare its financial life, in some ways is able to be more real.
Today's installment is the first of several that will run this year as we consider education, housing, jobs, health care and the overall future for the middle class. In some cases, the subjects of the stories have agreed to be named, but not always.
This project is an outgrowth of a study by David Knox, the Beacon Journal's specialist in computer research. In 2007, he participated in a Kiplinger Fellowship at Ohio State University, where he used the horsepower of university computers to analyze 51 million records spanning five decades of Census Bureau data, prepared by the University of Minnesota's Population Center. In September 2007, the Beacon Journal published his findings, showing that successive generations of Americans are earning less than their parents.
The Web version of the story included an interactive database, allowing readers to compare their own income with national statistics. That project is available at http://www.ohio.com/hottopic/10675396.html.
After publication of that project, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups, which were held in late October. The purpose was to listen to citizens discuss how they related to the trends in Knox's finding.
The seven sessions were facilitated by Alice Rodgers of Jemez Pueblo, N.M. Formerly a resident of Stark County, she has facilitated many discussions for the newspaper over 25 years, including the Beacon Journal's examination of race relations in 1993, which resulted in the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Out of those focus groups arose the several topics that will be examined before the 2008 presidential election.
Knox and Beacon Journal columnist David Giffels are the reporters on this project. Photographer Ed Suba Jr. and artist Deborah Kauffman Barry prepared the photos, illustrations and graphics for today's installment.
— The editors
Today's story about a middle-class family is unusual for us. We don't name the family.
The reason?
Middle class hanging by thread as rich get richer, poor get poorer
Meet the family: Census data form American portrait
Today's story about a middle-class family is unusual for us
The very things that define the middle class slipping out of reach for many Ohioans
Story behind the story: five decades of data
Speaking of... Voices from The American Dream series
Median annual pay in the U.S. over the decades (pdf)
As we began last October to research the struggling middle class, one thing was eminently clear: Lots of people in our community are feeling the same pressures, but they are — understandably — reluctant to expose their concerns so candidly.
This family, by agreeing to completely bare its financial life, in some ways is able to be more real.
Today's installment is the first of several that will run this year as we consider education, housing, jobs, health care and the overall future for the middle class. In some cases, the subjects of the stories have agreed to be named, but not always.
This project is an outgrowth of a study by David Knox, the Beacon Journal's specialist in computer research. In 2007, he participated in a Kiplinger Fellowship at Ohio State University, where he used the horsepower of university computers to analyze 51 million records spanning five decades of Census Bureau data, prepared by the University of Minnesota's Population Center. In September 2007, the Beacon Journal published his findings, showing that successive generations of Americans are earning less than their parents.
The Web version of the story included an interactive database, allowing readers to compare their own income with national statistics. That project is available at http://www.ohio.com/hottopic/10675396.html.
After publication of that project, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups, which were held in late October. The purpose was to listen to citizens discuss how they related to the trends in Knox's finding.
The seven sessions were facilitated by Alice Rodgers of Jemez Pueblo, N.M. Formerly a resident of Stark County, she has facilitated many discussions for the newspaper over 25 years, including the Beacon Journal's examination of race relations in 1993, which resulted in the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Out of those focus groups arose the several topics that will be examined before the 2008 presidential election.
Knox and Beacon Journal columnist David Giffels are the reporters on this project. Photographer Ed Suba Jr. and artist Deborah Kauffman Barry prepared the photos, illustrations and graphics for today's installment.
— The editors
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