ipl-logo

Adjusting To Inflation: Why Americans Feel So Poor CNBC Marathon

569 Words3 Pages

Adjusting to Inflation The economic changes in America, there has been increases in poverty. Inflation and pricing increases have led to different classes needing more financial afford basic needs. The video, Why Americans Feel So Poor | CNBC Marathon, by CNBC, shares Americans' point of view on why they feel “so poor.” The video starts off by describing how middle classes have felt a shift of security in their financial standing. CNBC states, “the middle class was once a symbol of the American dream, but the American middle class today paints quite a different picture… between a rock and a hard place” (YouTube 2023). With inflation and the cost of living increasing, it is becoming harder for people, like the middle class, to keep up with the expenses. Furthermore, someone in the middle class years ago, would most likely be able to pay their needed expenses and have some left over. With the recent inflation, many middle classers now only have enough to pay for their needs, if they even have enough for those expenses. To put into perspective on why middle classers feel “poor”, according to a “survey in 2018 found that a third of middle income adults do not have $400 to cover an unexpected expense” (YouTube 2023). The survey from 2018 does not account for the expenses in 2023, with the rate of inflation since 2018 …show more content…

People are feeling squeezed financially because they are only able to, or barely able to meet their needs. To put into perspective how costs have increased but pay rates have not, is a static by CNBC. CNBC states, “the average household income in the U.S. saw just a 16% increase over the last fifty years. In comparison, housing costs increased by 190% and college tuition shot up by nearly 264% in the same time period” (). This rise of the cost of living and expenses has limited the amount of savings or energy funds people are able to

Show More
Related
193 Words | 1 Pages

In the article “Confronting Inequality” by Paul Krugman it explains how and why large changes between wages of wealth and the problems between the social classes. America's middle class in today’s society are exceeding their limits in effort to give their children opportunities many middle class parents did not have themselves. Ways that many middle class parents are doing this is by buying homes that they can't afford; this is so their children will be able to attend a good school. Another reason why middle class parent are doing this so that their children can have more opportunities to one day slow the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor. Another reason that inequality between the classes is important Krugman believes is because

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

For example, because of today’s workers’ salaries not being increased to compensate for the inflation rate, many of workers are struggling to provide for themselves and their families as evidence by Schwartz’s statistic included in his article, “Over 20 percent of all American children live below the poverty line” (Schwartz). The reason that over 20 percent of American children are in poverty currently is because the workers that are not being financially compensated correctly statistically have more children than the higher class, who rule the wealth in America. All in all, Schwartz’s argument that the economic inequality today in America causes a significant increase in poverty is very accurate based on the statistical evidence given in his article and the truthful analogy that he uses to describe

Read More
1821 Words | 8 Pages

The Glass Castle is a memoir based on the life and family of Jeanette Walls. Short on food and money, the family travels quite frequently to resettle and regain their lives. Based on her point of view, Jeanette maintains a steady heart while dealing with her dysfunctional family’s issues. The parents fail to provide for their children adequately due to their own personal problems, and because of that, Jeannette learns how to fend for and take care of herself. As Jeanette grows older, she realizes the truth and realities in her life, and she eventually takes off to New York to become the independent woman she has strived to be.

Read More
899 Words | 4 Pages

The more money the wealth has the less middle class there is. The more people that influences the wealthy the higher the social equality will grow. Krugman says “A society with highly unequal results is more or less inevitably a society with highly unequal opportunity, too (592).” Middle class is being denied for all the help that there is, while the wealth is getting help. They are force to live this way because of inequality in the world.

Read More
189 Words | 1 Pages

Atlantic Media Company, 18 May 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. "The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground. "

Read More
1103 Words | 5 Pages

The working class, including industrial workers and farmers, experienced unemployment and poverty firsthand. They struggled to find jobs and were laid off leaving them to eventually lose their homes. Middle-class individuals often faced unemployment as well. This led to a decline in their financial stability and an overall decrease in their standard of living. However, some middle-class families managed to maintain a certain level of comfort.

Read More
748 Words | 3 Pages

Reading through RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013, it became fairly obvious that the author, Edward McClelland, was presenting a thesis idea that consisted of promoting the middle class through examples of its prime time when middle class thrived. McClelland made the point clearly as he repeatedly provided examples ranging from the glory days of the assembly line industry that had provided high paying jobs for many people, to presidents who attempted to keep business within the United States to promote home grown jobs. He was especially focused on the point that the middle class was shrinking due to a large discrepancy between the wealthy and the rest of society as capitalism achieves its goal of padding the wealthiest and keeping the middle

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

Mantisos in his article, The Class America, talks about how people avoid speaking about social class, describes the economic spectrum, the lifestyles of Americans, and power and oppression. The only class America likes to talk about is the middle class and whether they think it exists or not. People avoid the subject of class because they like to think it does not matter. The trust is it most definitely does and there are so many advantages to being in a higher class than others. The economic spectrum in which we live in is described in depth by Mantisos.

Read More
899 Words | 4 Pages

Some may say that it is true that middle class isn't bringing much in but it due to the stock market crash in 2009 but it has been growing since then. However this is not true. Middle class families are shrinking to the lower class and poverty line America. Brookings Institution defined this group as “including those with income between 100 and 250% of the federal poverty level, or between $18,871 and $47,177 for a family of three, according to the current numbers”. These reason are why middle class Americans no longer are the foundation of the American

Read More
666 Words | 3 Pages

Many people feel like they are forced into the low income bracket and some people feel like they are forced into the upper class bracket. There is no sweet-spot like there once was, a place of just living comfortably. James Truslow Adams wrote that the American Dream “is that of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and achievement, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth” (qtd. in King 610). This is the traditional view we all love to believe at our core, but the reality of it is far different than the described fairytale above.

Read More
1174 Words | 5 Pages

We have had numerous recessions which in turn makes matters worse as middle class working people lose their jobs or get paid less as a result of of this. When a group faces this kind of setback, it creates inequality in the country because not everyone suffers because of this, but not much is done to erase the issue. Most problems arise when the middle class is expected to pay a certain amount in taxes that could be beyondmeans while the 1% does not face the same issue. We saw this become a main concern in the 2016 election as some candidates wanted even lower taxes for the 1% in turn putting that burden on the middle class. When focussed more precisely, it becomes known of the wage gap between white workers and black or latin workers.

Read More
475 Words | 2 Pages

The middle class want to become rich and the low class only wants equality.” Orwell’s predictions of the party, the government in modern society, rises to power and the poor stay poor. In LA Times “Income Inequality makes the rich more scrooge-like, study finds”, “Since the 1980’s -- the end of a 30-year period… wealth has grown increasingly concentrated at the top of the economic ladder, while low-income Americans have commanded a smaller and smaller share of the nation’s wealth.” *add where quote is from* ”... top 5 percent of American families saw their real income increase 74.9 percent… the lowest-income fifth saw a decrease in real income of 12.1 percent… Sharply contrasting with the 1947-79 period… with the lowest income group actually seeing the largest gains.”

Read More
517 Words | 3 Pages

Annotated Bibliography Cohen, M. (2014, April 26). The American Dream is now just that for its middle classes – a dream. The Guardian, p. 00. “The American Dream is now just that for its middle classes – a dream” by Michael Cohen explains the perception of Americans towards the decline of the middle class. The article details how the middle class was viewed before the elections of President Obama, and how it’s viewed after the creation of the Affordable Care Act.

Read More
411 Words | 2 Pages

Wealth and Inequality in America Inequality The inequality in America has increased over time; the gap between the rich and the poor has become a problem that many Americans don’t see. Inequality is the extent of income which is distributed unequally among the citizenry. The inequality of the United has a large gap between the poor and the rich making it unfair to the population, the rich are becoming wealthier and the poor remain poor. The article “Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1%”, authored by Joseph E. Stiglitz describes that there is a 1 percent amount of American’s who are consuming about a quarter of the United States income in a year.

Read More
442 Words | 2 Pages

Americans are embracing facts of inequalities and wage control, which has been a drawback in the American economy in the past, yet new policies have reduced inequalities by passing a law back in 2007 to raise wages, that is “Congress passed the first increase in the minimum wage within a decade” (574). That same embrace has the middle class preparing for the future by planning new strategies to educate their children about the dangers of debt to income ratio, gaps between social equality, and political power among the wealthy gaps. Also, unbalanced monetary stimulants, which have no power of motivation for some whom are after the American

Read More

More about Adjusting To Inflation: Why Americans Feel So Poor CNBC Marathon

Related Topics

Open Document