Great Recession Effect: 40% Of Households Show Signs Of Financial Stress, Study Says

Almost half of American households were struggling five years after the Great Recession, according to a new study published by the Federal Reserve survey of consumers. Many of households were financially strained with tight credit, education debt and retirement issues, the Los Angeles Times wrote on Thursday.

While the study, which was done in September 2013, revealed the economy had “progressed” to the point where U.S. households should be doing OK or “living comfortably,” it turned out 40 percent of families were struggling or “just getting by” when compared to their financial status five years ago.

"It just shows that the recovery is not delivering for a huge chunk of Americans," Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said.

Ultimately, the Fed’s finding, which were published on Thursday, confirmed other studies that conveyed they effects of 2008-2009 recession still lingers. The “recovery” has been slow and unevenly skewed toward the wealthy.

Pensioners were also affected, as 15 percent of people who chose to retire after 2008 had to do so because of the recession. A mere 4 percent said they retired later than expected.

"This suggests that some of the folks who dropped out of the labor force during the recession will not be returning," Scott Hoyt, an economist at Moody's Analytics, said, according to the L.A. Times.

U.S. home owners were also effected financial crisis since their houses, which are many American’s primary assets, saw a decrease in the value of their property. While 27 percent said the value of their homes increased, 45 percent said the value decreased.

People’s savings also took a hit. Half of the people in the survey said they had funds for a “rainy-day,” but less than 40 percent said they were able to save enough money to cover three months of expenses.

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