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Nearly 78 million adults – about 1 in 3 – are having trouble paying for usual household expenses, today’s Census shows. Policymakers need to urgently resume negotiations – which the President abruptly ended yesterday – and enact a robust, bipartisan economic relief package.
The data show that 32 percent of adults reported that, in the last week, their household found it somewhat or very difficult to cover expenses such as food, rent or mortgage, car payments, medical expenses, or student loans. That’s 78 million people.
Today’s data also provide other important insights:
- The rate of hardship was higher for adults with children (40 percent) than adults in household without children (27 percent).
- Some 9 to 14 percent of adults with children said that their children didn’t eat enough in the last week because they couldn’t afford it. That’s between 7 and 11 million children.
- Nearly 1 in 6 adult renters – 11 million people – reported that they lived in a household that wasn’t caught up on rent.
- Renters of color are likelier to report difficulty affording rent, with Black renters more than twice as likely as white renters to behind on rent.
The President abruptly ending relief negotiations means people won’t see any relief until after the election at the earliest. Policymakers need to urgently resume negotiations and enact a robust, bipartisan relief package.
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