Tom, Dick or Harry

Today I am thinking about a young relative of my wife who lives in central New Jersey. He's a nice guy in his mid to late thirties, with a wife and two young kids. Trained as an engineer, he has worked for one of the largest tech companies in the world since college graduation. His wife stopped working when she gave birth and has been a full-time housewife since then. They have a nice suburban house and yard with a mortgage and two cars, which are necessary in the 'burbs. I don't know whether his kids are going to public or private schools at this time. He could be any typical middle-class Tom, Dick, or Harry with a good job and loving family in America today.

When I was growing up, the typical job trajectory was one of choice. He could probably remain with his company for life, if he did a reasonably good job, and retire with a nice pension from a defined benefit pension plan and full medical coverage. Eventually, his mortgage would be paid off and he'd live a comfortable retirement in NJ or perhaps Florida or the Southwest. Alternatively, he might seek a promotion elsewhere based on training and experience. In any event, if he lost his job for some reason, there was typically another company somewhere that could use a good man. That is not the norm any more, as we all know.

What would happen now if, God forbid, our relative should lose his job? First, there is a danger that another job might be difficult or impossible to find, especially if he wanted to remain in the same area as his relatives. Today, that job loss could easily set off a chain of events leading to disaster. Without a job, his company's health and dental coverage would disappear. Unemployment insurance coverage is limited in amount and stops after a period of months. Eventually, the mortgage can't be maintained and the house is lost; one or both cars often follow. If the kids are in private school, they probably will have to leave, because the high cost of living can't be met indefinitely from the typical savings of a Tom, Dick, or Harry.

Soon enough, if a lifeline is not received in the form of a new job (often at a sharply reduced salary and no benefits) or help from relatives, the family losses its middle class status and rapidly descends into poverty. When contemplating this fate for a family member instead of strangers or statistical populations, the consequences are especially horrible and painful to consider. But this is the harsh reality confronting many Tom, Dick, or Harry families living in America today. The same situation exists overseas for previously middle class people in countries like Spain and Greece, where unemployment levels are now as high as they were during the Great Depression.

Our safety net needs to be strengthened, not undermined, during these parlous times.