Report: Half of NYC Households Face Cost Of Living Crisis

Facts

• According to a report released on Tuesday, half of the working-age households in New York City don't make sufficient income to pay for their basic needs.¹
• The report, published by the United Way of New York City and the Fund for the City of New York, found that a family of four needs to earn more than $100K to survive.²
• That marks a 38% jump in a two-year period from the last cost of living report in 2021 when 36% of working-age households were struggling to make ends meet at the time.³
• The latest cost of living is significantly higher than the city's nearly $70K median household income, according to the most recent Census data [with median household income even lower according to other sources.]⁴
• The report also found that 65% of Latin, 58% of Black, and 51% of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander households struggle with economic security as opposed to less than half of US-born households in total and less than a third of White households.⁵
• Skyrocketing apartment rents, inflation, and low wages are a few reasons why 50% of city households couldn't keep up with the cost of living.⁴

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Crain's New York Business, ³FCNY, ⁴New York Times, and ⁵FOX 5 New York.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Newsweek. Biden's deficit spending and destructive socialist policies have caused inflation to rise dramatically and actual earnings to drop by $3K for the average American in the past two years. The only solution to the cost-of-living crisis is a prominent Republican win in 2024; only then can spending and regulations be controlled, and America's economic recovery would be more robust and faster than anywhere else.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by Guardian. Inflation is a global challenge — the cost of living has become more expensive for every nation, not just America. Many countries across the world are facing pressure on public finances already strained by the pandemic and are struggling to rein in rapidly rising prices due to the war in Ukraine. Still, House and Senate Democrats are taking action to lower inflation, despite Donald Trump signing the majority of deficit spending over the past six years into law.
• Narrative C, as provided by Bloomberg. The study paints a dire portrait of a burgeoning cost-of-living crisis in America's largest metropolis. It's the latest evidence to demonstrate that more people in New York City are struggling to meet their basic needs than the official poverty statistics. Instead of indulging in petty politics, the Democrats, as well as the Republicans, must take a tight fiscal stance to help fight inflation and make New York affordable again.