Over 40% of U.S. households struggle to afford necessities like groceries, gas, rent, Internet and healthcare. With rising costs, stagnating wages, and minimal federal assistance, it’s become all too common to feel overwhelmed and stuck in a perpetual cycle of barely scraping by. We cover this growing crisis and how individuals and families can get help through their community network.
Guest Information:
- Stephanie Hoopes, national director, United for ALICE
- Cherry, New Jersey resident
I listened to the segment of briding the gap for low income families. The rise of inflation has made it very difficult for my wife and I. We live in CT. We have been together for 12 yrs, this is the 2nd marriage for both of us. We have 4 children total. 2 are grown and on there own. We waited for 10 yrs to buy a home because both of our credit scores were low and there was never enough in savings. We finally made it over the hump last year, our landlord sold us the property we were renting at an agreed price well before pandemic, luckily. After taxes our combined income is $110k. My wife has auto immune health issues so we have to carry 2 health insurances which cost us almost $800 a month for both. Anthem BC/BS, same company as people on state assistance. We still fight to get claims paid even with 2 insurances. People on state insurance don’t ever get questioned. Pretty sad at a $110k we are just getting by. We are grateful for what we have and to be able to have great jobs, but we should be able to enjoy life at this point and be able to put more towards retirement We don’t live beyond our means either. We have one car payment, minimal credit card debt( which has been used for car repairs, home improvements, new furniture for 2 last remaining kids), we have a 1500 sq ft split level home which is an average size home in our town. Its just a constant struggle. A tax break would just be helpful since we make too much to qualify for anything. And after 10yrs of struggling to buy our first home together, now all the sudden they are giving mortgages to people with low credit scores at a lower mortgage percentage than people with high credit scores. Its just endless. Might I add im texting this from my phone on a Sunday morning at work, working 21 days straight so my wife and I can take a vacation alone together after taking the last one in 2013.