Vice President Kamala Harris is set to accept the Democratic presidential nomination during a formal presentation at her party’s convention in Chicago this week, but in the meantime, her campaign, along with lame-duck President Joe Biden, got more bad news ahead of the 2024 election.
An increasing number of Americans are curbing their spending as they grapple with rising costs for everyday essentials such as food, rent, and auto insurance. Recent findings from Empower reveal that 62% of Americans believe their purchasing power and income are diminishing due to ongoing inflation. Furthermore, 82% reported that their money no longer stretches as far as it once did, and 79% observed that the serving sizes of many household goods, like cereal and chips, are shrinking, Fox Business reported.
With prices still uncomfortably high, many people are reaching their spending limits, according to the “Big Shrink” study. About 27% of respondents indicated that they have hit a pricing threshold and are unwilling to pay more for grocery staples. Those who exceed their budget will either stop purchasing these items or remove them from their shopping lists altogether. More than one-third of Americans refuse to pay even $1 more for a cup of coffee, and 20% of Gen Z shoppers said they would stop buying fruits and vegetables if prices keep rising.
Under President Biden, inflation surged to its highest level in 40 years, causing the cost of essentials like rent, groceries, and gasoline to skyrocket. This led the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to a two-decade high, which in turn pushed mortgage rates above 8% and made it significantly more difficult for businesses to secure credit, the outlet reported.
Although inflation has decreased significantly from its peak of 9.1% and the Fed is expected to cut interest rates this fall, many Americans are still struggling. Food prices have risen 21% since the beginning of 2021, shelter costs have increased by 21.6%, and energy prices are up 32%, according to FOX Business. These higher costs are especially burdensome for lower-income Americans, who spend a larger portion of their limited income on necessities and have less room to save.
Food prices have been a major source of inflationary pain for Americans. According to a survey by Yahoo Finance/Ipsos published in November 2023, over two-thirds of voters say that higher food costs have been the most significant impact of inflation, far exceeding the impact of increases in gasoline, transportation, and housing expenses. Rising food prices are particularly troubling as they affect nearly every household in the country. Low-income Americans bear a disproportionate burden, spending about 30% of their income on food, as reported by the USDA.
Poll after poll have shown that most Americans trust former President Donald Trump to bring the economy back under control than they do Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s campaign actually praised Harris after she made a startling admission during a rally ahead of the weekend. Harris was addressing a small crowd in North Carolina when she essentially admitted that the economy under the Biden-Harris administration has been less than stellar.
She said: “Everyday prices are too high… It feels so hard to be able to just get ahead… The bills add up… Food, rent, gas, back-to-school clothes, prescription medications… The cost of food. A loaf of bread costs 50% more… ground beef is up almost 50%… There’s a serious housing shortage… The price of housing has gone up… It is too difficult to build, and it is driving prices up… It is out of reach… The size of down payments have gone up as well… It is still too high… There’s not much left at the end of the month… And prices are still too high.”
The Trump campaign responded: “We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.”
WATCH:
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. pic.twitter.com/W9H1CSDZlA
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 16, 2024
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