The Winners and Losers of “The Great Recession”

The recession is creating job losses across a wide swath of America and in every industry group. A recent New York Times story took a closer look at which demographic and ethnic groups (and states) are disproportionately feeling the pain of what’s been coined The Great Recession.

The Winners
• Renters, who had no equity to lose in real estate or the ability to take on risky mortgages
• Retirees who rely on Social Security income rather than personal investments
• Young families, who stand to benefit if their investments in the current, depressed stock market normalize in coming years

The Losers
• Day laborers and other workers who found work plentiful during the now-extinguished housing boom
• Hotel and retail employees and others without a college degree (most families cut back first on travel and shopping when money’s tight)
• Men, who tend to make up most of the workforce in troubled industries like manufacturing and construction
• Homeowners, who have seen real estate values plunge
• Investors, many of whom lost as much as half the value of their retirement funds or other investments
• Latinos, more so than any other ethnic group; the national unemployment rate now stands at 7.1%, compared to 11% for the U.S. Latino population
• El Centro, California, ground zero of the recession with an unemployment rate of 22.6%; this southern California agricultural town normally depends on Mexicans for picking the crops
• Michigan, North Carolina, Rhode Island and other states that rely heavily on manufacturing jobs
• Wall Street, where thousands of jobs will fall by the wayside
• The currently wealthy, who will pay higher taxes under Obama’s plan to bring more income equity to lower- and middle-income families

Can you think of other groups who are uniquely positioned to benefit or lose big in this recession?

Tags: Economy, recession, recession benefits, recession losers, recession winners

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