Michigan: 4 in 10 Families Don’t Earn Enough to Make Ends Meet [VIDEO]

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If you feel like your family doesn't make enough money to make ends meet, you're not alone. A new study shows that 40% of Michigan families are not able to meet that threshold.

In addition, the founder of Michigan Future Lou Glazer says that only about 40% of jobs in Michigan are what he calls "good-paying" -- a term he defines as paying $20 or more per hour.

Glazer tells WDIV that he worries that the divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" in Michigan is growing.

He explained that typically those in our state who have a college education do fine, but other workers who work in the food industry or other "frontline" jobs do not, and stresses that the coronavirus pandemic has accentuated the problem. He says the rate of job loss for the two groups is disproportionate.

"They're more likely to lose their jobs," Glazer said of the latter group, " and then if they lose the job, they’re less likely that job will come back anytime soon,"

University of Michigan economist Gabriel Erlich says the end of the coronavirus pandemic will likely bring a two-tiered recovery.

"When you look at things like retail, especially leisure and hospitality, face-to-face interaction is a key inherent part of that business,” Erlich said. “And we’ve seen very disproportionate job losses and we do expect the recovery to be slower in those industries too.”