Underearners Anonymous

Underearners Anonymous
Founded	2005
Location	Nyack, New York
Area served	Face-to-face meetings: Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Israel, United Kingdom, United States (California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, Vermont). Phone meetings: world wide
Mission	to recover from ".... the inability to provide for one’s needs, including future needs, [and also] the inability to fully acknowledge and express our capabilities and competencies. It is about underachieving, or under-being, no matter how much money we make"^[1]
Website	underearnersanonymous.org

Underearners Anonymous, often abbreviated “UA”, is a twelve-step program for men and women who have come together to overcome what they call "underearning". The underlying premise of Underearners Anonymous is that underearning is a kind of mental disorder, rather like the alcoholic’s self-destructive compulsion to drink to excess.

Indeed, members of UA sometimes refer to themselves as “time drunks”, because they have a propensity to fritter away their time in useless activities, rather than pursuing constructive goals. This parallel with alcoholism has led the fellowship to allocate much of the apparatus of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), including the Twelve Steps, regular meetings to share their “experience, strength, and hope,” and sponsorship. UA suggests studying AA literature to gain a better understanding of addictive diseases. Specifically, UA endorses the use of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions^[2] and Alcoholics Anonymous^[3] (also known as the "Big Book").

UA uses additional tools, such as keeping written records of how one spends one’s time, “possession consciousness” (the disposal of “what no longer serves us”), and the avoidance of “debting” (unsecured borrowing). They also advocate "action meetings" in which members peer-counsel others about earning related issues, and "action partnerships" in which members encourage each other to complete earning related tasks.

Success

The Effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous article of this encyclopedia notes the difficulty in rigorously testing the effectiveness of AA. Given the more subjective nature of underearning, as opposed to alcoholism, the effectiveness of UA is probably even harder to rigorously investigate. Nevertheless, some compelling anecdotal evidence of success, at least in certain instances, have been reported.^[4]

Relation to Debtors Anonymous (DA)

Underearners Anonymous was started when Andrew D., a Debtors Anonymous (DA) member in Nyack, New York, persuaded other DA members to form a committee to consider a new fellowship specific to "under earning" in August, 2005. The first official Underearners Anonymous meeting was held on October 3, 2005.

Underearners Anonymous continues to adhere to the DA philosophy; hence the emphasis on avoiding unsecured borrowing. However, UA also believes that a healthy relationship with money requires more than just recovery from "incurring unsecured debt", the primary focus of Debtors Anonymous.^[5] Many members of Underearners Anonymous are also members of Debtors Anonymous and attend meetings of both organizations.

However, Debtors Anonymous has no affiliation with Underearners Anonymous and neither endorses nor lends the DA name to any outside enterprise. DA, as such, is autonomous and has no opinion on Underearners Anonymous.^[6]

Development

UA has grown rapidly and weekly face-to-face meetings take place in, among other places, Georgia, New York, Massachusetts, California, Michigan, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Vermont, Chicago, Miami, and Baltimore; and internationally in London, Sydney, Jerusalem, Bogata, and Toronto. In addition, there are back-to-back conference call “phone meetings” throughout the mornings and evenings, seven days a week.

Due to the decentralized nature of UA, it is impossible to make an accurate count of its membership. However, the hundred or so attendees of recent "Prosperity Express" events in New York and Los Angeles suggest a total membership that is well into the hundreds, if not over a thousand, world-wide.

Notes

References

Kadet, Ann (20 November 2010). "A Program for Poor-aholics". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2011-10-22. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
Crowe, Aaron (9 February 2011). "Actress Finds New Financial Life With Help from Underearners Anonymous". The Financial Daily (An AOL Money & Finance Site). Archived from the original on 2011-10-24. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
Bill W. (2002a). Alcoholics Anonymous (4th ed.). New York, New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. ISBN 1893007162. OCLC 408888189. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
Bill W. (2002b). Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. ISBN 0916856011. OCLC 13572433.
"Debtors' Anonymous web site". Debtors Anonymous General Service Office.
Smith, Genevieve (June 2012), "In recovery: Twelve steps to prosperity", Harper's Magazine: 51–57, retrieved October 14, 2012
- Smith, Genevieve (May 23, 2012), "The Underearners Test", Harper's Magazine - Web Only:Commentary, retrieved October 14, 2012
Waller, Nikki (June 13, 2012), "12 Steps to the Salary You Deserve", Wall Street Journal, retrieved October 14, 2012
Tompor, Susan (August 30, 2012), "Are you underpaid? Underearners Anonymous can help", USA Today, retrieved October 14, 2012
Underearners Anonymous (interview with founder Andrew), Steppin' Out Radio, retrieved October 14, 2012