Recessions cause a great deal of pain across the entire society. They cause large numbers of workers to lose their jobs and make it hard to find new jobs. Recessions hurt the standard of living of many families and are usually associated with a rise in the number of people living below the poverty line, an increase in the number of people who lose their houses because they can’t afford their mortgage payments, and a fall in the percentage of Americans with health insurance. Recessions also hurt the profits of firms.