42 Statistics to Support a Self-Sufficient Lifestyle

Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels

On your journey to self-sufficiency, you’re going to meet a lot of naysayers. There will be plenty of people, especially those you love and care about, who won’t understand your desire to live simply and forgo a few creature comforts so you can feel more secure with what you can provide for yourself. 

That’s why Finding Country compiled 40 statistics you can share to explain your decisions to people who may think you have purely emotional reasons for wanting to run off to the country and build yourself a farm. 

These statistics touch on the primary aspects of a self-sufficient lifestyle: your finances, food, health, and safety. They paint a picture of the serious failings of our current systems and could show others why it’s important to you to have a back up plan for as many scenarios as possible. 

Finances: 
Many Americans are up to their knees in debt. The numbers are so astronomical that the average American cannot even grasp it, and therefore, doesn’t devote much brain space to it. But our financial status dictates how we live our lives, so it’s important to understand the ramifications of debt and how an inability to pay it off hinders our paths to become more self-sufficient. 

• Less than 50% of Americans can cover a $1,000 emergency expense, with 41% reporting in early 2020 that they could. (Bankrate) 
• Even if some Americans can afford a $1,000 emergency expense, the average unexpected expense comes out to 2.5X that cost at $3,500. (Bankrate)
• Those with poor credit have an average interest rate on their credit cards of 25%, while those with good credit still face an interest rate of 17%. (CNBC)
• The average household carries a debt of nearly $9,000, which is equivalent to 19 mortgage payments on a loan worth $100,000. (CNBC)
• In 2019, household debt experienced its highest surge since 2007, the last great recession. (CNBC)
• From March 2019 to March 2020, the United State’s public debt increased by more than 7% (Statista) 
• During the first quarter of 2019, our national debt surpassed our gross domestic product, which is the total value of the goods and services created within our borders. (Pew Research) 
• Usually, a country’s debt-to-GDP rises during periods of uncertainty and unrest, like recessions and wartime. The average debt-to-GDP ratio in the decade following the 1929 market crash was 32.9% and 32.5% after the recession that followed President Nixon’s election to office. From the first Iraq War to now, however, the average debt-to-GDP ratio has continued to rise, leveling out at 78% over the past two decades. (The Balance) 
• Despite the rising debt ceiling, 2013 was the last year that saw any sort of majority concern over managing it. Since that year, beliefs that the United States should reduce the budget deficit have decreased by 24 percentage points. (Pew Research) 
• We all believe we’re working for our Social Security benefits, but it accounts for more than 13% of our national debt. (Pew Research) 
• For the past 20 years, the government has been borrowing at a rate of 9% each year. In just 10 years, we could be looking at a borrowing need of $28 trillion just to make ends meet on the deficit and our public debt. (Mises Institute) 
• Nearly 50% of millennials who graduated with a bachelor’s degree carry student loan debt. (Pew Research) 
• Student loan debt physically saddles those who have it, with only a little more than one-fourth of those with debt saying they live comfortably compared to 51% of those without debt who agree. (Pew Research) 
• In early 2019, researcher and author of “Fiscal Therapy: Curing America’s Debt Addiction and Investing in the Future,” William Gale cautioned us about the state of our economic climate: “If policymakers do not address the fiscal imbalance during our current economic boom, it will only get harder to do so in the future. The problem will be bigger, the economic consequences will be more severe, and the political challenges of cutting spending and raising taxes will grow.” We’re seeing this reality play out on a global scale, and it didn’t matter what the experts warned our governing bodies about. (Brookings Institute) 
• Housing makes up one-third of the average American’s housing costs. (Debt.com)
• Debt is an unfortunate reality for seven out of 10 people who believe the only way to live life is with a heavy financial burden strapped to their backs. (Pew Charitable Trust)

Food: 
The global food system is fragile and unreliable to the extent we would want it to be. We’ve become so disconnected with food production that most of us would be at risk of starvation if we didn’t have grocery stores and convenient food delivery systems to rely on. 

• Food is as destructive as an AR-15 and as unifying a symbol as the olive branch. The United States has a history of using its access to food to develop diplomatic relationships and to make strides in certain foreign policy outcomes. In 2018, the government “formally recognized ‘global food systems’ as a direct defense and national security concern,” a statement that hadn’t been uttered since the conclusion of World War II. (Thomson Reuters)
• In the late 1800s, 80% of Americans worked in agriculture compared to the 2% that are responsible for our food supply now. (Medium)
• The U.S. gets half of its imports from 5 countries: China, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Germany. (The Balance) 
• The U.S. imported $2.5 trillion in goods from other countries in 2019. (The Balance) 
• A majority of countries, 85%, cannot sustain their food supply alone as a result of our increasingly global trade network. (IOP Science Environmental Research Letters)
• An 18-year study indicated that the amount of food that is traded globally has steadily increased, and that in times of disruption, countries will stop exporting in order to preserve their own populations. (IOP Science Environmental Research Letters)
• There are 3.27 million farmers in America, however, more than 916,000 of them are between the ages of 55 and 64. (University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems)
• Most of our food production, 39%, comes from large-scale family farms, which account for just 2.5% of all U.S. farms. (University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems)
• Every food and beverage we buy comes from 10 companies, which own hundreds of brands. (Business Insider) 
• In 1975, farms used to see 40 cents on every dollar Americans spent on food. As of 2017, that return decreased to 14.6 cents. (University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems)
• The beef packing market is controlled by four firms who own 85% of it. (University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems)
• Soybean processing is also the domain of four firms who own 82% of the market share. (University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems)
• Since 1993, four food retailers have gained 28% of the market share on America’s food. Currently, these retailers sell 45% of the food items you buy. (University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems)

Health:
We’re leading stress-filled lives that are only making us sicker and costing us more in terms of financial and physical distress. 

• Upwards of 8 in 10 of Americans say they’re stressed about their occupation. (The American Institute of Stress) 
• Of the nearly 128 million employees across the country, 1 million skip work each day due to stress-related reasons. (The American Institute of Stress) 
• Work stress is the cause of 120,000 deaths per year, one-sixth of the amount of deaths accrued from the deadliest condition: heart disease. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Only 6% of American workers don’t report feelings of stress while engaging in work-related activities. (The American Institute of Stress) 
• The primary reasons for stress at work stem from issues of autonomy and independence. When we’re controlled by bosses who bestow workloads inconsistent with our capacity, we become irate, unhappy, and ready to rebel. (The American Institute of Stress) 
• Work is something we have to do instead of something we want to do. More than half of us claim we are disengaged while completing tasks within the purview of our roles. (The American Institute of Stress) 
• We’re turning to vices in order to manage our stress. Women eat more and distract themselves with discussion among friends and family; men have more sex and consume powerful drugs. (Anxiety and Depression Association of America) 

Safety: 
Threats come in many shapes and sizes. From natural disasters to inefficient systems, your safety is under attack constantly. 

• The federal government spends 1% or less of its revenue on matters of public order and safety, ranging from our police and fire departments to courts and prisons. (Just Facts)
• Emergency medical services respond to 101,370 calls per day. (Medical News Bulletin) 
•  In big cities, you may be able to see law enforcement on a daily basis. It takes an average of 7 minutes for emergency personnel to arrive on the scene of an issue in cities. (Medical News Bulletin) 
• For many Americans, however, the chance that first responders will be able to save them in dire circumstances is spotty at best, and nonexistent at worst. In rural areas, response times double, with the average wait time for assistance jumping to 14 minutes. (Medical News Bulletin) 
• We recently entered a grand solar minimum, which is expected to last from 2020 to 2055. (Electroverse) 
• Grand solar minimums are part of the sun’s normal solar cycle however, they bring with them higher tendencies for natural disasters like more severe than normal snowstorm, flooding, and volcanic eruptions, as well as drastic cold and warm spikes that lead to poor farming conditions. (Electroverse)