New Study Says Most Americans Can't Afford a Basic Life
According to the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP), the majority of Americans are falling short of what the organization calls a 'Minimal Quality of Life.' The report defines that standard not just by food and shelter, but also by access to education, healthcare, professional clothing, child care, and basic leisure—essentials for stability, not luxury.
The analysis zeroes in on the bottom 60% of U.S. income earners, who brought in an average of $38,000 in 2023. To meet the threshold for a minimal standard of living, they'd need to earn about $67,000, which is almost double their current income.
'The middle class has been declining — we just haven't recognized it fully,' LISEP Chairman Gene Ludwig told CBS News. 'The American dream isn't supposed to mean living in a tent or stealing to survive. It's about having a shot at a decent life through hard work.'From 2001 to 2023, the cost of this 'American dream basket' doubled. In-state public college tuition jumped 122%. Health care and housing spiked. Meanwhile, median wages for the bottom 60% fell by 4% after adjusting for those same costs.
While top earners have seen faster income growth, the rest are barely treading water. And unless something changes, the divide is only going to widen. LISEP says the goods and services that define a basic standard of living are inflating faster than wages can keep up with.
In other words, the American economy may be growing, but for most U.S. households, it's not growing in a way that feels like progress.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
29 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Announces Preliminary Trade Pact With Vietnam
President Trump said on Wednesday that the United States had reached a trade deal with Vietnam, one that would roll back some of the punishing tariffs he had issued on Vietnamese products in return for that nation agreeing to open its market to American goods. The preliminary deal will also indirectly affect China, an important trading partner of Vietnam. 'It will be a Great Deal of Cooperation between our two Countries,' Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social announcing the deal. According to Mr. Trump, the deal imposes a 20 percent tariff on all imports from Vietnam and a 40 percent tariff on any 'transshipping.' That provision is aimed at addressing Trump administration criticisms that countries like Vietnam have become a channel for Chinese manufacturers to bypass U.S. tariffs and funnel goods into the United States. Which products would fall under the higher tariff rate is unclear. It could refer to goods imported to the United States from Vietnam that actually originated in China. But it could also apply to Vietnamese products that use a certain amount of Chinese parts. The deal could include a lower tariff on goods that are made in Vietnam with fewer Chinese parts and materials, and a higher tariff rate for Vietnamese goods that contain many Chinese components. Vietnam was soon scheduled to face a 46 percent tariff rate as part of the 'reciprocal' tariffs that the Trump administration unveiled on April 2. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Hill
43 minutes ago
- The Hill
House Democrat: Senate ‘took an ugly bill and they made it even uglier'
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said Wednesday that Republican senators who advanced the latest iteration of President Trump's domestic policy plan made it worse than the version he voted against when it passed the House in May. 'I think the Senate accomplished a near impossible task: They took an ugly bill, and they made it even uglier,' Doggett told CNN 'News Central' anchor John Berman. 'We're going to do all we can to influence and to expose the dangers of this bill and to call out Republican colleagues on this.' The GOP-controlled Senate passed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Vance on Tuesday after a marathon debate over the proposal, which would extend the tax breaks from Trump's first term as president and cut spending on social safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps. The House returned to the Capitol on Wednesday to address differences between the versions ahead of a self-imposed Friday deadline for final passage. Doggett acknowledged that some of the changes, including the Senate's addition of Trump's campaign promise to eliminate taxes on tipped earnings, may be popular with Americans but said they don't make up for more drastic measures in the proposal or its increase to the federal debt. 'These little flourishes that were added, like no tax on tips, are issues that are designed to cover the horrible job that they're doing,' he said. 'There is a way to address these concerns, not see Americans lose their health care, not engage in this fiscal irresponsibility that has been condemned by so many observers.' Trump again pushed back Wednesday on arguments that the bill would exacerbate the federal debt, arguing that it will promote job growth that will help Americans adjust to other measures. 'THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL DEAL IS ALL ABOUT GROWTH. IF PASSED, AMERICA WILL HAVE AN ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE LIKE NEVER BEFORE,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. 'IT IS ALREADY HAPPENING, JUST IN ANTICIPATION OF THE BEAUTIFUL BILL. DEFICIT CUT IN HALF, RECORD INVESTMENT — CASH, FACTORIES, JOBS POURING INTO THE USA. MAGA!!!' Doggett, responding to that post from the president on CNN, rejected Trump's claim. 'Of course, there had been some people that have talked about growth, and they've said we'll get practically none,' he said. Democrats are hoping for more Republican defectors, like Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), whom Trump bashed for opposing the legislation. The president had voiced support for challengers to Tillis in the senator's reelection bid next fall, but Tillis announced Sunday that he would not seek a third Senate term. '[Tillis] was courageous enough to put his own job on the line in order to speak out against the injustice of this bill,' Doggett said. 'I think that the first people in the country who were intimidated by Donald Trump were not immigrants or poor people; they were my Republican colleagues.' 'They are fearful … but we have to appeal to their better side and hope that they will do the right thing here,' he added.
Fox News
44 minutes ago
- Fox News
Teen entrepreneurs turn simple hot dog idea into six-figure sensation at Jersey Shore
As Gen Z battles a surfeit of negative stereotypes, a shocking 93% of the age group have taken a step towards exploring their own business ownership, research shows. Among them are 19-year-old business and economics majors Matt D'Arcy and Keith Stedronsky, who joined "Fox & Friends" Wednesday to kick off their new series highlighting young entrepreneurs hustling for the American dream. At just 16 years old, the pair founded their own seasonal "Dogs Out" hot dog stand that has now made them more than six figures in profit and become a staple of the Jersey Shore. "We were both bus boys at local restaurants. It was going well, but it wasn't really what we wanted to do, so we explored different options to try to make a couple bucks on the side, and we eventually figured [it] out," D'Arcy shared with co-hosts Lawrence Jones, Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt. The duo looked into zoning and permit requirements and learned they had to work with an already-zoned business. After pitching their idea to multiple sites and being rejected by most, one gave them their shot at success. "We eventually went to the Osprey in Manasquan, New Jersey. It's a bar and club that brings in a thousand people a night, and we asked them to pitch our idea to them, and they loved us, and they gave us this opportunity, and it's been smooth rolling ever since," D'Arcy added. The two work directly at the bar near the entry before moving over to the exit before the bar closes. "We give them a small percentage of our sales," Stedronsky explained. "On a Good Friday night, we could sell like 400 hot dogs." Customers can buy one hot dog for $3 or two for $5. "Dogs Out" also sells patriotic merchandise, including t-shirts for $20 apiece. The purchase of a shirt also includes a hot dog. After graduation, the pair plan to hand the business down to their little brothers in hopes of starting something similar on a larger scale.
