After losing his job as a vice president at Cannondale Bicycles, Mark Charpentier thought he would have no trouble re-entering the workforce. Sadly, his failed attempt led to a downward spiral of divorce, home foreclosure, and a two-thirds pay cut. Despite his own struggles in the job market, he now works at a social service agency, helping people further down the economic ladder find jobs as they transition from welfare to work.

Mary Vennitelli, featured in the film WAGING A LIVING in 2003, was working as a waitress, raising three children, and going through a messy divorce when we first met her. Ten years later, we discover that Mary lost her home to foreclosure after the divorce, married a barber, and moved with him to rural upstate Pennsylvania. They were able to scrape together enough money to buy a two-room cabin, which Mary’s husband renovated and enlarged. Although Mary is working as an optometrist technician, and her children are away at college, she still lives from paycheck to paycheck. She makes good use of her past experience with fending off collectors and deciding which bills to pay each month.

As a third-generation Croatian-American fisherman working in St. Bernard, Louisiana, George Barisich always regarded fishing as a stable and worthwhile profession. Yet, the combined impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the BP oil spill in 2010, and the recent influx of cheap foreign seafood sent his profits plummeting. Galvanized by the BP oil spill and the respiratory problems he attributes to working on the clean-up, George devoted his energies to serving as president of the United Commercial Fishermen’s Association, fighting to support fishermen in the New Orleans area.

After enjoying four decades of good earnings as a commercial fisherman, Brian Loftus claims that strict new regulations on the amount and type of fish he is allowed to catch are putting him out of business. We spoke to Brian and other Narragansett, Rhode Island, fishermen who believe that these regulations are bad for the American economy and make us reliant on foreign countries for our seafood. Conservationists like Peter Shelley, however, argue that these restrictions are the only way to ensure that fish stocks are preserved for future generations.

Robin and Jack Deters ran a successful floor-covering business together until Jack fell ill and developed blood clots. Their health insurance company claimed that Jack had a pre-existing condition and cancelled their policy, leaving them with a $42,000 hospital bill. Unable to return to work and saddled with debt, the family lost their business and ultimately their home, forcing them to move in with relatives. Instead of hiding her hardship, Robin transformed her anger into activism and now helps uninsured women gain access to free mammograms.

When the city of Central Falls, Rhode Island, declared bankruptcy in 2011, it slashed municipal pensions. Bruce Ogni and other retired firefighters and police officers discussed the impact of cuts in their pensions. Some have come out of retirement and returned to work; some have been forced to seek public assistance; and others have lost their homes. Robert G. Flanders, the emergency manager appointed by the governor to handle Central Falls’ bankruptcy, is sympathetic to the municipal retirees’ plight, but maintains that public officials made promises to retirees that the impoverished city could never have afforded to keep.

Fast Facts about Falling Down the Economic Ladder:

• The middle class no longer represents the majority in America. While the percentage of lower- and upper-income households has been growing, the middle class has been shrinking from approximately 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2015.^[i]
• While the Affordable Care Act increased coverage for more Americans and precluded insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, insurance companies that refuse to pay for certain services or cancel policies outright can plunge even covered Americans into bankruptcy. Fifty-six million Americans struggle to pay for healthcare, and healthcare costs remain the number-one cause of personal bankruptcy.^[ii]
• Poverty negatively impacts life expectancy for American men and women, and the gap between rich and poor in terms of life expectancy is growing. For men born in 1940, the top 10% of earners were expected to live approximately 12 years longer than the bottom 10%. For women, the difference averaged 10 years—more than double the difference in life expectancy for women born just 20 years earlier.^[iii]
• There is $2.6 trillion in state pension funds under management, but public pensions are exempt from Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) regulations, which has resulted in gross mismanagement of pension funds, especially in cities that illegally do not fully fund or illegally borrow from worker pensions. When economic crisis hits, pensions are at risk.^[iv]

 

Discussion Questions about Falling Down the Economic Ladder:

1. Article 25 of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights mandates the inalienable rights of men to “a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care.”^[v] Does the American government uphold its part of the social contract if paying for medical treatment can plunge citizens into debt, poverty, and premature mortality?
2. Mark Charpentier and Robin Deters spoke about how their difficult experiences led them to work with others who face similar adversities. Mark says surviving and being strong is important for his family and for those he helps at work. Robin says, “I got angry. I wanted people to know the truth. And I became an activist.” How can we transform adversity into activism on a larger scale so it has greater impact on the lives of all struggling Americans?
3. Brian Loftus blames his diminished income on government over-regulation of the fishing industry. Should we have to choose between protecting the livelihood of fishermen and protecting the environment? How can we do both for the next generation of Narragansett fishermen and Louisiana shrimpers?
4. Although Judge Flanders regretted having to cut the municipal retirees’ pensions in the bankrupt city of Central Falls, he suggests that part of the problem may be impoverished cities over-promising “gold-plated benefits.” He says, “A haircut is better than a beheading.” Should the next generation of workers lower their expectations? Should worker benefits be untouchable? How else can bankrupt cities restore solvency?
5. “When you work hard and do what you’re supposed to do, you’re supposed to be okay, but we’re not,” says Bruce Ogni. “So the American Dream, in my opinion, is done. Completely obliterated.” The city of Central Falls instructed him and his fellow firefighters and police officers to apply for public assistance. Yet Bruce and others are unwilling to do so because they are “too proud.” For George Barisich, retirement will be the “last nail in the box (coffin).” What are the broader implications of these stories?
6. Mary Vennitelli and her husband raise and hunt their own food and live in a handmade two-room cabin. “What we have here we built ourselves,” they say, “It’s almost like stepping back in time.” To what extent can struggling Americans downsize? Is self-reliance a reasonable strategy for those impacted by financial disaster?

^[i] http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/

^[ii] https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/managing-medical-bills/nerdwallet-health-study-estimates-56-million-americans-65-struggle-medical-bills-2013/

^[iii] http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2016/02/life-expectancy-gaps-promise-social-security#recent/

^[iv] http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/looting-the-pension-funds-20130926?page=2

^[v] “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” United Nations (December 10, 1948), http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights