Basic Needs & Financial Stability

It’s hard to avoid the fact that it takes a certain amount of financial resources to acquire the basic necessities of life. Aside from the very small number of people who live “off the economic grid,” the rest of us must find a way to meet our basic needs by acquiring them within the mainstream economy.

Researchers have tried to establish reasonable thresholds, based on household composition and regional cost trends, of what is needed to maintain the most basic level of economic self-sufficiency. The Michigan League for Human Services researches these trends. Their study, Economic Self-Sufficiency in Michigan—A Benchmark for Ensuring Family Well-Being (May 2007), defines economic self-sufficiency as: “the level at which a household is able to meet all of its basic expenses without relying on government or nonprofit assistance.”

Many areas fall into the category of Financial Stability including sustainable family income, financial literacy, affordable quality housing, food security, reliable efficient transportation, health care, systems navigation and more.

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