The American Dream has never felt further out of reach. And it’s not just because the house with the white-picket fence and the nanny to care for the children are unaffordable. They’re also, for many, unavailable.
America’s affordability problems are real. A weakening job market means pay raises are getting smaller. Prices have been trending higher – particularly for must-haves like groceries and electricity.
Yet wages have outpaced inflation for a few years now, and many Americans are earning a lot more than they were before the pandemic. Why, then, the unrelenting economic gloom?
The answer may be more about what Americans can’t get at any price.
Consider housing and child care. A yearslong standstill in the housing market has thwarted a generation of first-time buyers and kept growing families in too-small homes. In much of America, there simply aren’t enough child care professionals to take care of all the children of working parents.
That’s put many Americans in a frustrating bind: Many have moved into higher tax brackets but are unable to enjoy the trappings of their higher-income lives, while others feel like they’re falling further and further behind.
Housing
The cost of buying a home has surged in recent years, largely because of a housing market that has remai
Continue Reading on CNN
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.