> Yet this is confusing to me since presumably we're speaking of older individuals. Young individuals are, generally, still earning money and so they are already sustaining their own livelihood regardless of their savings (or [sudden] lack thereof).
Plenty of young people are easily to dupe with get-rich-schemes too. And earning money is not that helpful, especially on the poorer end - I mean, imagine that right now all your savings went to 0. Somebody cleared out your savings account and all the spare cash you happen to store around the house. Are you comfortable with that situation because you still have your job? Now consider a person on a regular, shitty, low-paying high-demand job. A loss of all money buffer can, through small unexpected expenses, quickly push someone into poverty.
So now these people stop contributing to GDP, because they can't hold a job (had to sell a car to eat, etc.), and they get on welfare, and they are unhappy and spread that unhappiness around, and if there's enough of them, they'll make a stink in the media about government not doing enough to protect their people.
You have a contradiction in your logic. Poor people working "regular, shitty, low-paying high-demand jobs" do not have savings. The numbers may vary somewhat by country but here [1] they are for America. 85% have less than $10k. 50% have less than $1k. 34% have $0. And there's probably going to be a pretty good correlation with savings and income. The 15th percentile in household income is about $120,000. Interestingly enough indicating even relatively well off Americans are awful at saving!
Interesting! Those data are indeed specific to the US and I expected the numbers would vary by nation, but not radically so. I enjoy learning more about economics and the fact there is a nation where even the poor have substantial savings is quite bemusing to me! Do you have any sources available?
Plenty of young people are easily to dupe with get-rich-schemes too. And earning money is not that helpful, especially on the poorer end - I mean, imagine that right now all your savings went to 0. Somebody cleared out your savings account and all the spare cash you happen to store around the house. Are you comfortable with that situation because you still have your job? Now consider a person on a regular, shitty, low-paying high-demand job. A loss of all money buffer can, through small unexpected expenses, quickly push someone into poverty.
So now these people stop contributing to GDP, because they can't hold a job (had to sell a car to eat, etc.), and they get on welfare, and they are unhappy and spread that unhappiness around, and if there's enough of them, they'll make a stink in the media about government not doing enough to protect their people.
This is not something socially desirable.