Bloomberg released a report Monday demonstrating just how severely inflation is impacting Americans.
Although the pace of inflation has slowed, prices are still far higher than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. The report details several expenses that have increased since January 2020. The cost of groceries has increased 25 percent, and restaurant food has increased 24 percent. Other expenses have also surged, with water and sewage costs rising by 16 percent, rents by about 20 percent, and electricity by 25 percent.
"I feel like I’m on a hamster wheel that’s just—I’m not getting ahead ever," 33-year-old Tamarah Victor of Needham, Mass., told Bloomberg.
The outlet cited a Census Bureau survey to report that a family of four in October 2020 would spend a little over $238 per week on food, while the same family three years later would have to spend $315 per week, according to a similar survey, an increase of 32 percent.
Other expenses plaguing Americans include child care, which has climbed 32 percent since 2019, and car insurance, which has climbed 33 percent since 2020.
Home-buyers have also faced difficulty affording housing. Thirty-year effective mortgage rates have increased by 4 percentage points since 2020, while the value of homes has increased 42 percent.
The report comes after ATTOM, a real estate data company, in September found that homes were unaffordable in 99 percent of counties in the United States for the average American.
Economic challenges could hinder President Joe Biden's chances at reelection. As Bloomberg stated in its Monday report, 40 percent of voters in swing states ranked the economy as their top issue in next year's presidential election, according to a recent poll it performed along with Morning Consult.
That poll is not the only concerning one for Biden, as his approval rating has dipped to under 41 percent, the lowest it has been in over a year, with over 55 percent disapproving, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.