15-05-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Not just in Singapore: Majority of Americans can't afford basic living standards, analysts reveal
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USA: The increasing gap between income and the cost of living has become a distressing truth for Americans, and it's a trend that has caught the attention of economic experts. A current report from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP), published by the latest CBS News, illuminates the expanding gap between what American people earn and what is necessary for them to have to sustain the rudimentary standards of living. While conventional economic barometers, such as the gross domestic product (GDP) or the number of jobless people, imply that the economy is healthy, the day-to-day reality of many families tells a different narrative.
The report goes beyond the prerequisites of food and housing, providing an in-depth perspective of the increasing costs of healthcare, education, technology, and childcare, all indispensable features of contemporary existence. The conclusions underscore a painful truth — for many American families, attaining a negligible quality of life has become progressively unreachable. The struggle to achieve the 'American Dream'
LISEP's study delivers a more precise and truthful measure of economic welfare for low- and moderate-income families. These fundamentals consist of everything from professional clothing to rudimentary relaxation activities, offering an understanding of the added expenses that are frequently ignored by outdated economic indicators.
For the lowest 60% of U.S. families, the cost of keeping even a rudimentary existence has increased. According to the report, these households, which received an unvarying $38,000 each year in 2023, would need to earn $67,000 just to meet the outlays of what the index estimates to be essential for a 'minimal quality of life.' Healthcare, housing, and education expenditures have all hit the roof, while the salaries of these families have stagnated, increasing by a meagre 0.37% every year since 2001. In stark contrast, the top 40% of breadwinners have seen their earnings surge meaningfully, thereby expanding the gap. The future outlook: A growing crisis
The trend doesn't seem to be decelerating. Specialists warn that the income gap is projected to last and will keep on widening, as the price of indispensable products and services bloats at a higher percentage than salaries. Gene Ludwig, Chairman of LISEP, stressed that the American dream is gradually becoming unreachable for many families. 'The middle class has been declining – we just haven't recognised it fully. 'It's dangerous because it leads to social unrest, and it's not fair. The dream is supposed to be about having a chance to get ahead, not about struggling to survive.'
As the cost-of-living hikes faster than earnings, the American potential of ascending agility becomes tougher to achieve, leaving many families confronted with a future where economic refuge is no longer assured, a concern that resonates far beyond the boundaries of the United States.
