Report: More than one in five Americans is ‘economically insecure’

Here's the latest grim measure of the toll taken by the Great Recession and its aftermath: More than one in five Americans lost at least one quarter of their available household wealth during the downturn, and lacked a financial cushion to weather the loss, a new report has found.

Over 20 percent of Americans were defined as "economically insecure" in the period between 2008 and 2010. Back in 1986, that figure was 14.3 percent. Those who were insecure lost an average of 46.4 percent of their income in 2009.

The report updates the Economic Security Index, created last year by Yale political science professor Jacob Hacker. The index uses three measures to determine economic insecurity: major income loss, out-of-pocket medical expenses and lack of savings. It also factors in the amounts people are forced to spend on health care costs and debts.