The United States has experienced economic volatility and uncertainty since the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020. Inflation has crushed working class families across the country and peaked at levels not reached in nearly four decades in late 2022. Now, in the calendar year 2024 the rate of inflation has increased has decreased but the effects of rising prices are here to stay. Basic essentials like groceries and household necessities have risen to heights that have forced many average families to struggle financially. Energy costs, have markedly risen, and the economic health of working Americans is questionable. Home ownership has also been deemed nearly impossible for many average families making around the median national household income of about $70,000 annually. In a report, for individuals making near this amount, in 99% of the nation this is not enough to be able to afford the price of an average priced home.
The truth of the matter is that much of the American working class is losing faith in the message of prosperity that the country had long exuded for generations. In a recent poll, nearly half of people say that the “American Dream” is dead. Only 36% of people in a Wall Street Journal publication said that it still “held true”, and 45% said it was once true, but not any longer. The wealth divide between those who are affluent and those who are poor has continued to increase in what has become known as the “hourglass” effect.
Only 19% of people in an NBC poll stated that they felt that future generations would be “better off” than those previous- as had been the standard for most Americans for most of the nation’s history. People are more pessimistic today than ever. A well-respected economic expert Cristophe Barraud stated that he believes the national economy will stabilize in 2024 and that there will not be any recession as predicted.
