In many respects, Maine has not fully recovered from the 2008 recession, according to James Myall, a policy analyst for the Maine Center of Economic Policy and the ‘economy has not served low-income people very well,’ he said. Nearly half of Mainers are living paycheck to paycheck, he said, with 45 percent of families not having enough money to cover a $400 emergency expense.
Wages are stagnant, he said, and have not been keeping pace with rising costs of living, notably increasing rent.
‘This is not just an urban issue,’ he said.