'I had to downgrade my life' - US workers in debt to buy groceries

Stacey Ellis, a lifelong Democrat from Pennsylvania, is feeling the pinch of rising prices. Despite working full-time as a nurse's assistant and holding a second part-time job, she has had to make significant changes to her lifestyle. She has switched to cheaper stores, cut out brand-name items like Dove soap and Stroehmann bread, and has even given up her favorite Chick-fil-A sandwich. To make ends meet, she has sometimes resorted to payday loans, which come with high interest rates. 'Before inflation, I didn't have any debt,' she says. 'But now, I've had to downgrade my life completely. ' The surge in grocery prices, which have increased by 25% since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, has outpaced the historic 20% rise in living costs that followed the pandemic. This has put a strain on households across the country and has led to widespread economic and political discontent. 'I'm a Democrat,' says Ms. Ellis, who lives in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown. 'I love voting for them. But Republicans are speaking volumes right now and Democrats are whispering. ' She adds, 'I want somebody to help me, help the American people. Joe Biden, where are you? ' For President Biden, the cost-of-living issue presents a major challenge. It threatens to dampen turnout among his supporters in an election that could be decided by a few tens of thousands of votes in key states. Last year, Americans spent more than 11% of their incomes on food, including restaurant meals, which is the highest proportion since 1991. The jump in food prices has hit younger, lower-income, and minority households especially hard. These groups were key parts of the coalition that helped Mr. Biden win the White House in 2020. A survey earlier this year found that 94% of Americans were at least somewhat concerned about rising food and consumer goods prices. This concern was nearly identical to two years earlier, even though the staggering jumps in food prices that followed Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine have subsided. Dylan Garcia, a 26-year-old security guard from Brooklyn, says he has never struggled to buy groceries as much as he does now. Instead of the fresh food and brand-name items he used to enjoy, he now stocks up on ramen noodles and frozen vegetables. He only eats twice a day because he can't afford more. At checkout, he routinely uses 'buy now, pay later' schemes, which allow him to pay the bill in installments but have led to mounting debt. 'I'm stuck in a loop,' he says. 'It's become an insecurity to pull up my phone at the register and have to use these programs. When they see me, it's embarrassing. ' Mr. Garcia, who has long voted for Democrats, says his precarious financial situation has made him lose hope in politics and he does not plan to vote in the upcoming election. 'I don't think the government has our best interest and I don't think they care,' he says. Katie Walsh, a makeup artist in Pennsylvania, voted for Trump in 2020 and says she plans to do so again, based on his economic record. The 39-year-old says her family has struggled to keep up with inflation, especially since her business has slowed as people cut back on spending. 'I know he's a big fat mouth,' she says of Mr. Trump. 'But he at least knows how to run the economy. ' The White House maintains that President Biden has been engaged on issues of food affordability, fighting to increase food stamp benefits and other government aid, initiatives opposed by Republicans. At a recent presidential debate, the first question was on inflation, and Mr. Biden sought to shift blame to big companies, accusing them of price gouging. This claim is hotly disputed among economists. Despite strong job creation and low unemployment, opinion polls show that voters continue to trust Mr. Biden's opponent, former President Donald Trump, more on economic issues. On the debate stage, the Republican White House candidate blamed Mr. Biden for stoking inflation, which the White House denies, and said, 'It's killing people. They can't buy groceries anymore. ' The Trump campaign denies that policies he proposes, including a 10% tariff on all goods coming into the US, would worsen price rises, as many analysts predict. 'We believe that a second Trump term would have a negative impact on the US's economic standing in the world, and a destabilizing effect on the US's domestic economy,' wrote 16 Nobel prize-winning economists in an open letter last month. Republicans have accused Mr. Biden of trying to mislead the public about the extent of the inflation problem, noting that Mr. Biden has claimed, incorrectly, that inflation was already at 9% when he entered office. It was 1. 4%. Stephen Lemelin, a 49-year-old father of two from Michigan, says he was pleasantly surprised by lower prices on a recent supermarket trip. Whatever his concerns about the economy, the military veteran says his support for Mr. Biden, who got his vote in 2020, has never been in doubt, given that he sees Mr. Trump as a threat to democracy. 'Nobody likes high interest rates or high inflation but that's not under presidential control,' he says. 'If you know politics, there's really only one choice. ' Some analysts believe the economy is moving in the right direction. Grocery prices were up just 1% over the past 12 months, well within historic norms, and the cost of a few items, including rice, fish, apples, potatoes, and milk, has even come down a bit. Major chains such as Target, Amazon, and Walmart have announced price cuts in recent weeks, and there are signs the situation could continue to improve. Some analysts also expect wages, which have increased but trailed the leap in overall prices, to finally catch up this year, providing further relief. 'We're on the right track,' says Sarah Foster, who follows the economy for Bankrate. com. 'Wage growth has slowed, price growth has slowed but, you know, prices are slowing at a much faster rate than wages.