Over the years, people have constantly struggled with having enough money to pay for necessities. Because of the economic challenges created by the pandemic, people are working now more than ever. While simultaneously, prices of household and required items have never been higher.
Inflation has pushed tampon prices up 10 percent. There are options for lower quality items at a lesser price, but with something as crucial as pads or tampons, a person needs quality items.
Food prices also continue to rise. If one has certain dietary restrictions like needing to be gluten-free or wanting to have a healthy diet in general, it is unreasonably expensive to do so. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, it costs about $1.50+ more a day to eat healthy foods than to eat unhealthy foods. That’s over $600 a year, and most people are forced to pay even more because they cannot eat certain things that are in a large number of processed foods. Healthy foods cost twice as much on average as processed foods.
In an American Heart Association presentation, they reported a 10 percent drop in food and other prices could prevent 515,000 heart-related deaths and 675,000 strokes or heart attacks by 2035. There are also so many life-or-death items whose prices have skyrocketed. The cost of obtaining insulin per month ranges from $50 to over $1,000. And a pack of pens ranges from $45 to over $600.
There are over seven million Americans who have diabetes with no choice but to pay extreme prices for their life-saving medicine. No one who struggles with diabetes should die because they cannot afford to get insulin, a medicine that only costs a few dollars to produce. A 2018 study done by Dr. Dzintars Gotham at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, estimated that one vial of human insulin costs $2.28-3.42 to produce.
Many people who are struggling with their physical health also refrain from calling hospitals or seeking help because they know they cannot afford that, either. The average cost for an ER visit by patients who have insurance is still $1,082 out of pocket, and much more for those not insured. Costs vary depending on illness and state, but most people don’t have a few hundred or a thousand dollars, just to see a doctor.
Insurance puts one in a better situation, however, insurance can be expensive. Then once getting insured, one can't go to just any hospital when having severe health issues. Patients must seek in-network care or pay a high price for out-of-network care.
Another huge issue is credit cards. If someone does not have good credit, there are very few things they can do alone. It’s easy to go into debt with a credit card because one can spend more money than what they have. It seems great for paying bills but a person still has to pay that money back which some people don’t have the funds to do. And once a card gets cut off for spending too much not only is a person in debt, but that card collects interest so they’re paying back more than what they originally borrowed. But since so many things orbit around good credit scores, most people are forced to own a credit card.
Credit card debt surged in the U.S. because people kept borrowing money to continue being able to afford things in the face of growing inflation. Consumer debt will then negatively affect the economy because when it catches up it forces consumers to spend less. Tax and interest rates should be lowered along with the general prices of certain foods and household products to encourage consumer spending and allow the economy to flourish. Instead, they are being raised.
All of these companies make billions of dollars off people who are struggling to even pay rent or buy food, and they are allowed to do that. These prices put restrictions on the number of people who can get help and live comfortably, which affects society as a whole.
The federal reserve has been raising interest rates to try and slow the economy and help inflation, but this could increase the risk of recession. Inflation reached a new high, food prices rose by 10.4 percent, energy prices by 41.6 percent, and rent by 0.8 percent in just the last month.
Inflation doesn’t seem to be going down any time soon, but there are lots of ways to help budget spending. Consume carefully, an average of 40 percent of waste comes from the kitchens. By precision and take inventory of leftovers before the next grocery store trip. Be diverse in shopping, and keep an eye out for deals at dollar stores, drug stores, or even big-box retailers.
Sign up for fuel-saving programs, search for the cheapest gas, and renegotiate car insurance. Drop some streaming services, lots of companies have announced they are increasing monthly subscriptions. Consider dropping one, or try negotiating with providers for utilities.
Action can’t just come from individuals though, government intervention is necessary. Increasing interest rates is advertised as a solution but it is not one. It reduces consumer spending, but at the cost of people being unable to even buy household items. The longer the government and policymakers wait to take action, the more people will suffer.
CONSUMER EXPENDITURE IN DETAIL
PRICE DEVELOPMENT
https://www.statista.com/topics/768/cost-of-living/#dossierKeyfigures