Post foreclosure crisis life goes on because it has to – but with much less steam. The pockets are slimmer either with no pay or less pay and it seems this trend will continue for decades. This raises the question of whether the crisis is over or whether the weather created by the crisis is here to stay.

70,000 employees of Maryland have not got their salaries raised since 2007; in fact there are going to be reductions although Governor Martin O’Malley is hopeful that this will be the last of them. Patrick Moran of AFSCME union (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) in Maryland explained that there was not much choice. He said the choice was either pay reduction or laying off thousands.

Jan-Ryder Hilton of Nottingham sees before him many years ahead of scraping and managing to survive. He is of the view that the economic climate would not return to previous levels; people would have to accept that as a way of life and live as per their means.

But for many families survival has become nearly impossible with reduced money in their pockets. Households are turning for help to St. Ambrose Housing Center for assistance in preventing foreclosures. Anne Balcer Norton of this non-profit group said that the income has gone down considerably in many case. The choices before the people are difficult. They are curtailing their spending, trying to manage with less but even then the challenge is formidable.

Maryland is one of the few states where earnings increased in 2009 according U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The increases were from the residents of Maryland engaged in D.C. The salaries of the state employees dropped slightly. In some sectors the reduction was sizable.

In Baltimore the average wage earned per week dropped to $1,540 in 2009 from $1,720 in 2008 summer according to the figures of Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. It means an annual drop of $9,400.

But the resident of Nottingham, Hilton is better off comparatively. He lost approximately $20,000 a year – devastating for him however. The irony is that today is he is teaching in Community College of Baltimore County and earning more than his previous job in the insurance field. But the current job is contractual sans any benefits. It could be good-bye at the close of any semester. The situation is stressful leading to strains in his personal relationships.