This is what it looks like when you're part of the working poor.

[eridani]

http://www.upworthy.com/this-is-what-it-looks-like-when-youre-part-of-the-working-poor

When Henry was laid off three and a half years ago, his family was forced to leave their house.

The house they were renting had mold in the basement. Though Lisette was working two part-time jobs, they couldn't find another place to live.

They tried to access programs for people who needed help — but they didn't meet the requirements.

They searched for programs that could help but didn't qualify because they didn't have problems with substance abuse and had some income.

And the homeless shelters they looked at didn't provide for their needs because not all shelters are set up for families. Some wanted to split them up by gender.

Now, they're living in an apartment that doesn't feel like home and costs too much. More than half their income goes to rent and utilities.

Living paycheck-to-paycheck is pretty much standard operating procedure for millions of families in our country. In fact, paying at least half of monthly income for rent is a reality for about 1 in 4 U.S. renters.

The Great Recession had a lot to do with this.

Roughly 6 million homeowners lost their homes through foreclosure since 2008, which put more pressure on the rental market. And beyond that, a lot of folks who were just getting their start in the working world (hello, 20-somethings) began their adult careers far behind where they should have been.

[KT2000]

1. Renting has become so difficult

the requirements such as rent can be no more than a third of income, good credit rating, and work history are too much for people who have any problems. Too many are pushed overboard without a care.

[darkangel218]

3. And prices have gone up and keep going up.

Realtors and investors are pumping up the prices on daily basis, and it will keep going up the bubble will burst, just like in '08.

[Enthusiast]

2. And yet, Paul Ryan wants to do away with the Minimum Wage.

[Warpy]

4. Wage depression has been official policy for over 40 years

because the mouthpieces for the rich blamed double digit inflation in the 70s on unions and workers, not OPEC. Never mind that 40 years of allowing wages to fall so far that minimum will no longer support a full time worker and inflation is still chugging along at the rate built into fiat currency, they're terrified that paying workers will bring it back to double digit levels.

Conservatives in both parties ascribe to this nonsense.

I can tell you that anger is building out there in workday land. Trump and even Sanders are symptoms of complete alienation from their respective party infrastructures and lack of confidence that either party can be persuaded to enact sweeping change, and they know that things will have to change if we are to avoid another revolution.

[hedgehog]

5. Two of my kids are sharing an apartment - they can afford it

right now, but I worry about what happens if they get laid off from their work - one's working a contract and the other is working retail so there is no guarantee that those jobs will still exist in a couple months.