More than half of black, Native American and Latino households are facing a financial crisis as they face inflation rates that are at a 40-year high. this, according to a new survey from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
As high gas prices and ever-rising grocery store prices are stretching Americans’ wallets, the survey shows that blacks, Native Americans and Latinos are struggling the most amid high inflation.
About 58 percent of African Americans, 69 percent of Native Americans and 56 percent of Latinos say rising costs have left them struggling with serious financial problems. Alternatively, only 44% of white households and 36% of Asian households say they are experiencing serious financial problems.
The survey also found that inflation exacerbates current financial stresses, such as high health care costs and a lack of affordable housing, problems that disproportionately affect minority groups more often.
Of those surveyed, 24% of black households, 18% of Latino households, 35% of Native American households, 18% of white households and 10% of Asian households say they have postponed their search for ‘medical care for serious illnesses during the last year. .
About two-thirds of all blacks, Native Americans, whites, Asians and Latinos also report that housing affordability is a major issue in their neighborhoods.
New report shows how black households never recovered from the Great Recession
The news comes as the United States has seen two consecutive quarters of shrinking gross domestic product, which is the definition of a technical recession.
58% of black adults who responded to the survey say they don’t have a month’s worth of expenses saved in an emergency account. For Native American respondents, 58% of them answered the same way: they cannot cover a month of regular expenses with their savings. A slightly lower percentage, but still more than half of Latino respondents, 53%, answered the same way. Only 20% percent of Asians and 38% of whites cannot cover a month of typical expenses with their savings on hand. Financial advisors often suggest that people have at least three months of living expenses in savings.
On Sunday, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, an ambitious plan to fight climate change, lower prescription drug prices through Medicare, reduce the U.S. deficit and raise new revenue through tax overhauls.
president Joe Biden Sunday greeted the passage of the historic legislation that saw Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote. The president said the legislation “addresses inflation by reducing the deficit and reducing costs for ordinary families.”
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