Baton Rouge / louisianaradionetwork.com
Mar 31, 2021 7:12 PM
The personal finance website WalletHub ranks Louisiana as the second most stressed state in the nation. WalletHub Analyst Jill Gonzales says Louisiana ranks fifth for average hours worked per week, but the Bayou State has one of the highest percentages of adults living in poverty
“Louisiana has the second-highest percentage of its population living in poverty only second to Mississippi,” said Gonzales.
Healthwise Gonzales said the state has a high percentage of adults in poor health.
“We see that there could be a higher insured population to help more with preventative care, a lot of adults not getting adequate sleep,” said Gonzales.
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The city of Birmingham is starting off the new year as one of the “neediest” cities in the nation.
The financial website Wallethub did a study that looks specifically at the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The list includes job losses, homelessness, food insecurity, and cities whose residents lack insurance. Birmingham came in at No. 6 nationally.
Wallethub analyst Jill Gonzales said the coronavirus outbreak did more than just threaten the health of residents of the Magic City.
“So we looked at cases and deaths, just the sheer prevalence of it. But, then we also looked at the unemployment rate, which obviously, typically when you have higher cases, you have a higher unemployment rate,” Gonzales said.
If you are looking to save some money and kick a habit at the same time, WalletHub said the ideal New Year’s Resolution for you, would be to give up smoking. WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzales said the average Louisiana smoker is letting $1.8 million dollars go up in smoke over a lifetime.
“So, what if you were to invest that pack a day over the course of a lifetime, how much are you missing and then health care costs per smoker,” said Gonzales.
The cost was based on the average pack-a-day smoker beginning at age 21 to 69. The average Louisiana smoker spends $113 thousand in healthcare costs, which is third in the nation.