One Recession, Two Americas

The Great Recession was devastating to 55% of Americans. For this group, the economic downturn brought a combination of unemployment, missed mortgage or rent payments, shrinking paychecks and blown household budgets. For the other half of the country, 45% of Americans, the recession was free of such economic hardships. Different demographic groups experienced very different recessions. Seniors were able to weather the recession far better than young adults. Easterners had far less economic trouble than did residents of the South, West or Midwest. Suburban and rural residents experienced fewer problems than did city dwellers. Republicans were less likely than Democrats and independents to have lost ground during the recession. Read More