Glad to see the media is finally catching on
Workers got bigger raises this year, but inflation has gobbled them up
John Bjorklund’s savings account is shrinking. Alex Bonifaz worries about skyrocketing heating oil costs. Rose White is delaying replacing the leaky roof on her house.
All three work for the Boston nonprofit 2Life Communities, where nearly everyone got raises in April — some at higher rates than normal. But soaring inflation has eroded those increases, wiping them away completely in some cases, as it has for workers across the country.
Prices have gone up 8.3 percent on average over the past year, according to the Consumer Price Index, and for some essential items it’s far higher — eggs are up nearly 40 percent, for instance — putting an especially large burden on lower-income workers. The inability to get ahead is further fueling worker frustration at a time when people are quitting their jobs at record rates. (snip)
Bjorklund, who also plays guitar in a rock band, got a 4.2 percent raise in April — more than he normally gets, but less than others received.
“I’m not complaining,” he said. “When they’re saying inflation is like a 7 or 8 percent increase, the 4 percent raise really doesn’t amount to a lot of money. But I’m grateful to have it.”
Most won’t be getting an 8%+ raise, but, even if they did, it wouldn’t account for the food and other goods they buy the most which have skyrocketed.
White, 47, has been spending $50-$100 more a week on groceries for her family of four, including a daughter, 12, and son, 14, who play sports and often have friends over to eat. “The volume of food is incredible,” said White, who has been making more trips to Costco — and buying less meat — and recently started growing vegetables to help combat high prices. She also worries about her children’s college fund and soaring electricity costs, and is seriously considering investing in solar panels.
When White and her husband get raises, they usually put the increase into their retirement savings. But White didn’t do that with her 2.5 percent bump this year for “cash flow reasons.”
If you can’t afford to buy meat as much, you can’t afford solar panels. Such is life in the Bidenconomy. Especially when it’s hurting the working class and low end of the middle class the most.
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This week we published an op-ed piece that I wish could run every day — though maybe with a few updates to more fully explore its theme. That piece was Eugene Linden’s ” 
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