Minnesota Poll: Half of us feel worse off than before recession

The brutal recession has left half of all Minnesotans feeling worse off than they did before it started, with many struggling to pay bills or relying on loans from friends and relatives.

A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll found that nearly one in five Minnesotans said they'd been laid off during the recession, while more than a third reported having their pay or benefits cut.

Hardest hit were people of color and those making less than $30,000 a year. More than three-quarters of people in each of those groups said they'd suffered hardships ranging from pay cuts to job loss.

But "cutting back" was the theme for nearly every demographic group, said Larry Hugick, chairman of Princeton Survey Research Associates International, which conducted the poll for the Star Tribune.

"Even in the highest income group you see three-fourths of them saying that they had to manage some sort of cut ... either canceling vacations or cutting back spending," Hugick said. "That is pretty striking."

The poll of 902 Minnesota adults was conducted July 26-29, with an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

Its results are an indication of the toll the recession has taken, even as Minnesota's economy has held up relatively well compared with many other parts of the country.

But the pain has taken many other forms, along with job cuts. In the poll, 29 percent of Minnesotans said they'd had their work hours reduced, while 36 percent had seen pay or benefits cut.

For many, that meant real difficulty in managing household budgets.

About 25 percent said they'd had trouble getting or paying for medical care, 22 percent had trouble paying rent or mortgage payments, and 21 percent had to borrow from friends or relatives.

About half said they'd cut back or canceled vacation plans, while two-thirds switched to less expensive brands or shopped more often at discount stores.

Bloomington resident Mercedes Aris, 81, watched her investments plunge by hundreds of thousands of dollars after Wall Street's collapse.

"I couldn't do it anymore," said Aris, who now strives to make her pension and Social Security income last long enough so she can put some money aside each month. "I am careful. ... I only buy what I need," she said. "I don't just throw away my money."

All groups feel pain

Regardless of income or race or political persuasion, nearly everyone has been hurt by the recession in some way, Hugick said.

In all, 81 percent of respondents said the economic downturn caused them to do at least one of the following: borrow money from friends or family members, have problems paying rent or medical insurance or adjust their retirement plans, cancel vacations or switch to cheaper branded goods and stores.

The survey found that 83 percent of those making less than $30,000 a year had suffered a layoff, pay cut, work-hour reduction, been forced to work overtime or been pushed into a part-time job.

Meanwhile, 65 percent of whites and 60 percent of those making $75,000-plus a year had similar woes, as did 57 percent of college graduates.

Corina Serrano, 24, faced an onslaught of problems as a result of the recession.

Stress takes its toll

As a former foreclosure counselor at ACORN Housing, she regularly worked late hours and weekends "just to keep up" with an unmanageable caseload of 300 anxious clients.

Stressed co-workers kept quitting, forcing her to pick up the slack.

Stress became overwhelming as she had trouble meeting expenses when her car broke down or her live-in boyfriend lost a job. Credit card debt mounted.

Last year, Serrano found a new job working as a foreclosure counselor in Washington County. She makes $9,000 more a year, helping 40 clients a month.

Her boyfriend, Dameun Strange, is still looking for full-time work after being laid off from ACORN. He found part-time work at a research firm, but only makes half of his former income.

Such stories have become more common in the recession.

The poll found that 10 percent of respondents said they were forced to switch from full-time jobs to part-time. Another 32 percent were like Serrano, forced to pick up the slack of departing co-workers by working longer hours.

Thirty-nine percent of all nonwhite respondents reported being laid off, compared with 15 percent of white respondents. Thirty-three percent of nonwhites had to take days off without pay, compared with 20 percent of whites who were in the same bind.

Another 30 percent of nonwhites were forced into part-time work from full-time jobs, compared with 8 percent for whites.

There is a "racial gap in our unemployment rate," said Minnesota Labor Market Office Director Steve Hine. "We don't have a lot of information about why.

"But what we do have suggests a real issue here and that we need to understand this and really take some steps to fix the situation."

Until recently Letitia White of Minneapolis was part of that statistic. The black Minneapolis resident was laid off from her nurses' aide job two years ago.

The finance company repossessed her car. She had to go on food stamps while applying for countless jobs.

"It was hard, especially when you are used to working every day," she said. "We are a two-person household, but we still could not make ends meet."

In November, White landed a job as an assistant program director at a vocational rehabilitation center who works with the disabled.

"I'm blessed," she said, despite the fact that her income dropped by $15,000 a year. In these times, she said, it's enough to have money to pay the bills.