A good factor to evaluate in the consideration of a stable and prosperous economy includes an examination of an individual’s ability to cover monthly expenses including medicines with their income. Like employment status, the COVID-19 pandemic must be taken into consideration as having an impact on the local economy and survey results obtained during the closure of businesses throughout Kentucky.
Carroll County
Of those who are employed, nearly 46% of respondents indicate they are underemployed and worry about paying their bills each month. Of those who are not working for reasons other than job loss, half worry about meeting monthly expenses, and nearly 43% of those are homemakers. Although persons who are unable to work make up a significantly smaller percentage of the population, they make up the group with the highest proportion of those who worry about meeting their monthly expenses as well as having issues paying for medicine, putting them at higher risks than the general population.
| Total # of persons | No issues paying monthly expenses | Worry about paying monthly expenses | No issues paying for medicine | Have issues paying for medicine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed | 221 | 119 | 101 | 183 | 37 |
| Homemaker | 39 | 21 | 18 | 30 | 9 |
| Student | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Looking for work | 17 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 3 |
| Not looking for work | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Retired | 24 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 7 |
| Unable to work | 16 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 8 |
| No response | 18 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
Gallatin County
Of those who are employed, over 44% of respondents indicate they are underemployed and worry about paying their bills each month. Of those who are not working for reasons other than job loss, 44.5% worry about meeting monthly expenses, and more than 44% of those are homemakers. Although students make up the group with the highest proportion of those who worry about meeting their monthly expenses, data is too limited and is an unlikely representation of all students. Not surprisingly those looking for work are the next group with the highest proportion of those who worry about meeting their monthly expenses at 88.2% respectively. Those who are unable to work have the highest rate of persons finding it difficult to pay for their medicines and more than half of them worry about making their monthly expenses putting this group at a significantly higher health risk than the general population.
| Total # of persons | No issues paying monthly expenses | Worry about paying monthly expenses | No issues paying for medicine | Have issues paying for medicine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed | 337 | 188 | 149 | 284 | 53 |
| Homemaker | 69 | 39 | 29 | 55 | 13 |
| Student | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Looking for work | 17 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 4 |
| Not looking for work | 10 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| Retired | 46 | 27 | 19 | 31 | 15 |
| Unable to work | 30 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 12 |
| No response | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Owen County
Of those who are employed, over 40% of respondents indicate they are underemployed and worry about paying their bills each month. Of those who are not working for reasons other than job loss, 31.3% worry about meeting monthly expenses, and more than 36% of those are retired. Although persons who are unable to work make up a significantly smaller percentage of the population, they make up the group with the highest proportion of those who worry about meeting their monthly expenses as well as having issues paying for medicine outside of those who are looking for work which puts this population at a higher health risk than the general population.
| Total # of persons | No issues paying monthly expenses | Worry about paying monthly expenses | No issues paying for medicine | Have issues paying for medicine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed | 237 | 140 | 96 | 211 | 25 |
| Homemaker | 15 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 3 |
| Student | 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Looking for work | 6 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Not looking for work | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Retired | 48 | 39 | 9 | 44 | 4 |
| Unable to work | 9 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| No response | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pendleton County
Of those who are employed, nearly 60% of respondents indicate they are underemployed and worry about paying their bills each month. Of those who are not working for reasons other than job loss, 56.1% worry about meeting monthly expenses, and more than 34% of those are retired. Although persons who are unable to work make up a significantly smaller percentage of the population, they make up the group with the highest proportion of those who worry about meeting their monthly expenses as well as having issues paying for medicine outside of those who are looking for work which puts this population at a higher health risk than the general population.
| Total # of persons | No issues paying monthly expenses | Worry about paying monthly expenses | No issues paying for medicine | Have issues paying for medicine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed | 199 | 81 | 118 | 164 | 35 |
| Homemaker | 40 | 20 | 20 | 37 | 3 |
| Student | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Looking for work | 8 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| Not looking for work | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Retired | 47 | 25 | 22 | 33 | 14 |
| Unable to work | 24 | 4 | 20 | 15 | 9 |
| No response | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |