TAMPA, Fla. — Inflation continues to put a strain on millions of American families. This year, inflation has soared to levels not seen in more than 40 years.
The overall rate slowed last month, but we're still paying more for things we buy every day. Grocery prices have risen more than 13% since last summer.
And new research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that inflation is having a much harder impact on communities of color. The big takeaway from this recent poll is that in these communities, many of the people who were already "just getting by" have been pushed "over the edge" by this recent inflation crisis.
According to the foundation, a family with two people working full time at minimum wage can't even make it in the best of financial times. But recently, all the necessities including food, rent, transportation, and even health care have suddenly become unaffordable.
The solution, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Dr. Alonso Plough, starts at the local and state levels of government by putting programs in place before difficult financial times.
"Minimum wage standards, education, training, ability for people to take advantage of a market economy so that they don't fall so low when you have the inevitable inflation cycle that we're experiencing now," he said.
Plough also said there also needs to be attention put on what helps people build income and equality over their lifetime like good education and access to health care.