The Economics Section - Page A4
ARE AMERICANS BETTER OFF IN 1996?
by Staff Journalists, The Daily Republican Newspaper
WASHINGTON DESK - This week the Economics Institute in Sacramento talked to Americans about the way they see the economy. Most of the speople surveyed in the representative sample said their incomes don't stretch as far as they did in 1992.
Less than 15% report that they make enough money to live comfortably. Compare that to 28% four years ago. And 37% live from paycheck to paycheck with earnings just barely enough to pay bills, and no savings. That's up from 24% in the 1992 survey.
Most people, the Institute reports, are not buying or replacing furniture, cars, or even kitchen appliances.
Previous credit purchases may be one reason they aren't farther ahead. Nearly 74% of the survey respondents said that they do not intend to use credit cards in the next 90-120 days.
Federal, state, and local taxes on income, consumer purchases, and gasoline seem to be taking a bigger bite out of their earnings than before. And they are left with the uncomfortable feeling that even as their premiums and taxes edge up, they are getting less and less for their dollar. The purchasing power of the American dollar is stagnant.
Few expect to finish their careers as well-fixed as they had planned just 4 years ago. Today, 56% of survey respondents feel more anxious about their own future than they say their parents feel about their own.
Baby boomers are now reluctant to count on their employers the way their parents did.
The economic turmoil of the past five years has left many Americans with a diminished sense of control over their own destinies, according to the opinion reasearch firm of Yankelovich Partners Inc.in Norwalk, Conn.
As a means to regain control, thrift seems to be making a tenuous comeback. In the annual Yankelovich Monitor survey, growing numbers say they feel obligated to save, particularly for their children's education, even though they find it difficult. "They are saving not because it's a virtue, but because it's a smart thing to do in a less certain world," Ms. Clurman says. "There's a good deal of concern about what their kids will face when they grow up."
Only 41% of those surveyed recently by The Wall Street Journal say they are "very or somewhat satisfied" with the amount they are saving. And 58% say they are "somewhat or very dissatisfied."
Baby boomers are beginning to pay attention to these warnings. As they married and started families, the boomers kept up a steady demand for material goods during the past 25 years. They expected to live better than their parents. By and large, they did. They bought houses, appliances, furniture, exercise equipment, vacation homes, and traveled everywhere in expensive RV Motor-Homes.
As more women joined the work force, they bought more cars and more clothes, and they could afford frills like espresso makers, Jacuzzis and video cameras. Now the leading edge of that generation has turned 50, and their perspective has changed to a more conservative life style.Most are not expecting to receive the Social Security benefits for which they have paid a very high tax in proportion to their earnings.
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