A third of Mainers don’t make enough to cover monthly expenses, study finds

U.S. middle-class household incomes rose for the third straight year in 2017, as more Americans are working and the number of people with full-time jobs increased. In Maine, however, only 70 percent of working men and women are making enough to meet monthly expanses and save some for the future. (Keith Srakocic | AP)

Only 70 percent of Maine’s workers earn enough to cover basic monthly expenses plus save a little for the future, a new study found.

The other 30 percent who lack economic security include people of color and families headed by single mothers, according to the study by the Washington, D.C., nonprofit Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

White men and married couples without children are the most likely to meet basic expenses.

The findings are based on a new data analysis of the Basic Economic Security Tables Index. The BEST Index ranks Maine 23rd among the 50 states and District of Columbia for economic security, while neighboring New Hampshire as well as Connecticut are among the states with the highest rates of economic security.

To read the rest of “A third of Mainers don’t make enough to cover monthly expenses, study finds,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Lori Valigra, please follow this link to the BDN online.