Do 40 Percent of Americans Have Less Than $400 in the Bank?

That’s not what the study being cited says.

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Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar claimed on Twitter Sunday that 40 percent of people in the United States have less than $400 in their bank accounts.

The claim also made recent appearances in comments by Sen. Bernie Sanders, an article published by Salon, and a National Interest article, among other media exploring the economic impact of coronavirus.

The 40 percent number seems to be pulled from the Federal Reserve’s Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018, which found that 61 percent of Americans said they would be able to cover a hypothetical expense of $400 using cash they had on hand, savings, or a credit card which would then be paid off on their next statement. In that same report, 27 percent of respondents said they would cover the expense some other way, such as carrying a balance on their credit card or borrowing from friends and family, and 12 percent said they would be unable to cover the expense at all. 

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  1. Ann G

    Do 40% of Americans have the ability to withstand the economic precariousness, devastating natural disasters, and widespread health threats we presently experience with their own financial resources? Do 60%?

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    Visibly

    My, I am so happy to be resident of a civilized country where unexpected costs (usually related to work or health) do not cause existential crisis.

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    Stephanie

    Thanks for the fact checking. People play fast and loose with the facts in social media, when casually tweeting some statistic, or posting an article with a misleading headline. And the people reading and responding are just as bad: it's clear most of them uncritically accept the information in the tweet or in the case of an article ("content" which is not necessarily from a journalist) only read the headline, and never read the actual story. There are people who do take some time to read the article but misinterpret what they've read or don't bother fact checking. Getting ready for a totally disgusting social media election season. Rep. Omar is guilty, but so are most other partisans on Twitter. It truly is a cesspool of misinformation.

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    Boomer Bob

    Thanks for providing additional context regarding our ability to weather the current crisis.

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  5. Jeff

    I wonder how many people who claim to not have $400 answered the survey on a $600 smart phone.

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    Earl King

    This claim and others made by the left is only to justify more taxes, more govt. control and shaping of society. The claim women only make 80 cents on the dollar to men has been largely debunked but no one reports it. A Dept. of Labor study looked in to it. Women choose family/children over money. They may decline a promotion if it means more time away from family. They are not as ladder climbing as men due to child care responsibilities. While some positions have exact titles...experience isn't always exact. They looked at other items...Like North Slope Oil Driller. High paying dangerous job that most women wouldn't be interested in. It has been against the law since the 60's to pay someone different pay due to their sex. I would like to see examples. The only one I know is between actresses and actors...Yes, Hollywood that bastion of liberalism.

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    1. Ann G

      With more women than men graduating from college and in the position of the higher wage earner in families, I wonder if we will see men begin to get short end of the stick when it comes to wages, since they will likely be the primary child care providers of the family.

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        Earl King

        Yes, when I think of my children. It's sad for me to see people complain about America and the perceived social ills of racism, lack of women rights etc. I am older so I have seen America pass thru the 60's, 70's 80's etc. I see the progress in my kids. They don't care if someone is gay. They don't see the color of skin as anything other than melanin. This is where my generation wanted us to be in the 60's. We have largely achieved it. Others sadly see it differently. They do not have the perspective of actually seeing colored only sings on bathrooms. Or the national guard on the streets during race riots. Currently there are more women in Med School, I would imagine depending
        on who they marry the man may step back in his career and largely take over many of the roles. Again in my daughters generation...I see changes.

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      Stephanie

      It may be the law, but it only works if people file an EEOC equity claim. And I'd venture to say that most people either don't, try and fail, or are not even aware of the law, or become aware of their rights after the statute of limitations to initiate a claim has passed. Or due to secrecy about salary arrangements, never find out what their male colleagues are being paid. I challenge your generalization that women choose to stay home with family or children. Those women are not then in the work force and their pay isn't even a factor in the analysis. I myself as a professional have been in two jobs where an equally or less qualified male with exactly the same responsibilities (healthcare provider) was paid substantially more. This was totally independent of factors like seniority, merit raises, etc. This was from date of hire.

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    Kevin Durant?

    She forgot to mention the 30% who don’t have banks or maps and who live in The Iraq everywhere like such as...

    (is this reference too old?)

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    Rev Snow

    When a fact check addresses a claim made in a tweet, should a reply tweet to that tweet be made including the link?

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