Your Grandparents Bought a House on One Salary. You Can't Afford Groceries.
By Rafaela Shpigelman
America is in the grip of a crisis — one that has made it nearly impossible for ordinary people to afford basic necessities. According to The Hill, a third of adults have dipped into their savings just to cover everyday expenses. Younger generations feel locked out of the life their parents and grandparents took for granted: homeownership, healthcare, nutritious food, and financial security. This is the cost of living crisis, and it is touching every corner of American life.
The cost of living refers to the level of prices for a range of everyday goods and services. The reason it has reached crisis proportions is that prices continue to rise while millions of Americans cannot keep pace. According to the United States Census Bureau, 13% of the population lived below the poverty line in 1980. By 2023, according to United for ALICE, 42% of Americans fell below the ALICE threshold — meaning they were either in poverty or were Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed: working, but still unable to afford the basics.
"Our economy is growing. Productivity is up. Corporate profits are up. Workers' wages, however, are not — and the gap is widening by the year."
The health consequences of this crisis are stark. According to KFF, about one in seven adults reports cutting pills in half or skipping doses to reduce medication costs. Meanwhile, according to Life Stance Health, 83% of Americans report stress or worry tied directly to the current economic climate, with fears of layoffs, inflation, and recession weighing on their daily lives. Yet the very stress this crisis generates goes largely untreated: 60% of people, according to Life Stance Health, have avoided seeking professional mental health care because they simply cannot afford it. The result is a vicious cycle — financial stress worsens mental health, unaffordable care leaves it untreated, and the anxiety compounds.
The crisis is also reshaping what Americans eat. According to Northwell Health, a study from the University of Warwick found that Americans are paying 40% more for fruits and vegetables. As a result, families are turning to heavily processed, high-sugar foods — not by choice, but by necessity. Northwell Health further notes that this dietary shift is fueling a rise in diet-related chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cavities, and liver disease.
Homeownership — long considered the cornerstone of the American Dream — has become increasingly out of reach. According to Investopedia, the median cost of a single-family home surged more than 50% over the past 14 years, rising from $164,000 in January 2012 to $357,275 in January 2026. What was once a natural next step in adult life has become a distant aspiration for many Americans.
At the root of it all may be a fundamental imbalance between productivity and pay. According to Time Magazine, economic productivity grew 73% between 1979 and 2019, while wages for the middle class rose by only 23%. The economy is expanding — but the rewards are not reaching workers. Solutions have been proposed: Time Magazine points to higher minimum wages and broader pay standards across industries as meaningful steps toward relief. Until wages catch up with the economy, however, millions of Americans will continue to find that working hard is no longer enough.
