Improving the Odds: Winning the Fight to Rebuild the Latino Middle Class: America has always been a nation that prides itself on rising above adversity and beating the odds. But this Labor Day, more than two years since the end of the most punishing recession since the Great Depression, American families hoping to stay in the middle class are facing long odds.
With one job opening for every four unemployed people, chances are if you're out of work, you can't find a job. With nearly 13 million families in danger of foreclosure and banks often not playing by the rules, too few Americans will be able to keep their homes. With the price of health care rising, too many Americans have skipped a checkup or gone without a prescription because they couldn't afford it. If you're Latino and in the middle class, it's no secret that the odds that you will be able to remain there are tough. Latinos face an unemployment rate of 11% compared to 9% overall, a foreclosure rate of nearly 8% compared to White homeowners at 4.5%, and a poverty rate of 25% compared to 14% overall.
