Persistent inflation | USA: The poor are getting poorer

The queue in front of a food bank in New York. Photo: IMAGO/Xinhua The main problem facing Americans six weeks before the national midterm elections is that almost everything is becoming more expensive. Gasoline costs an average of $4.47 per gallon (about 3.8 liters), 41 percent more than a year ago. Diesel rose to a record price of six dollars a gallon. Overall, consumer prices have risen by more than 30 percent since 2019.

According to a poll by the New York Times and the Siena College Research Institute, rising cost of living is the most important issue for the majority in the upcoming midterm elections. 75 percent of US citizens are therefore dissatisfied with Trump's policies. Joe Biden lost the 2024 presidential election due to immense inflation following the pandemic. It reached a rate of 9.1 percent in June 2022.

In contrast, inflation this August was 3.4 percent. At the beginning of Trump's second term it was only 2.3 percent. That's almost the rate the US Federal Reserve is aiming for. Trump's tariff policy and the war with Iran followed. Wage growth has no longer been able to keep up with inflation for five months. The central bank now decided to raise interest rates in order to slow down the development.

It's not just pensioners or welfare recipients who are painfully aware of the price level. The managing director of the discount store Dollar General, Todd Vasos, reports that upper middle class customers have also changed their shopping practices. Even those who earn $100,000 a year are now shopping more cautiously.

While only 9.4 percent of citizens over 65 were officially poor in 2020, last year it was 15.4 percent.

The savings for the poor are all the more drastic. Gideon Lukens, from the research institute Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, describes the current situation as a “calm before the storm.” The poverty rate, which covered 13.1 percent of the population in 2024 and 2025, will skyrocket as Trump's massive social cuts from July 2025 now also have an impact. The number of Americans with government-subsidized health insurance (Obamacare) is also falling. In general, analysts expect a reduction of 20 percent. While only 9.4 percent of citizens over 65 were officially poor in 2020, last year it was 15.4 percent.

The Ohio Association of Foodbanks reports a significant increase in demand. In the Northeast, Generation Power CT, an organization that provides financial assistance for heating costs, fears that the usual aid of $500 per needy household will no longer even cover delivery costs. Heating oil costs up to 52 percent more than last year. In the rural districts that are loyal to Trump, people drive an average of 26 percent longer distances than elsewhere.

The Trump administration's rhetoric seems increasingly absurd. Vice President J.D. Vance said at the Republican campaign kickoff in Dallas in early September: “Two years ago, ladies and gentlemen, our nation was tired. We were tired of watching our factories close … We were tired of not being able to afford anything. Our country (became) dirtier, poorer, more insecure and less prosperous … The legacy of the Democrats in recent years has been that they have bankrupted our country and left us poor.”

Trump is trying to tackle the consequences of inflation head-on. In Dallas, he promised a $5,000 check for every adult American if his party won the election. His idea would cost the state $1.3 trillion.

The »nd.Genossenschaft« belongs to its readers and authors. They are the ones who make our journalism accessible to everyone through their contribution: We are not backed by a media company, not a large advertising customer or even a billionaire.

With your support we can continue to:

→ report independently and critically → address overlooked topics → give space to marginalized voices → counter misinformation → advance left-wing debates

With “Pay voluntarily” you can take part. You help ensure that this newspaper has a future. So that nd remains.