LET’S TALK: Can You Hear Them Now? When Economic Stress Reaches Our Neighbors
How rising costs, income inequality and policy changes are affecting families’ financial security and well-being.
By Judith Williams
The years 2025 and 2026 have brought change, uncertainty and unexpected discoveries. Across the country, many households are weighing the rising costs of groceries, housing, transportation and health care, along with concerns about employment and access to medical services. For some communities, these pressures are longstanding; for others, they represent a new level of uncertainty.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has spoken nationally about income inequality, the concentration of wealth and the influence wealthy individuals and corporations can have on public life. Sanders describes the concentration of economic and political power in the hands of a small group as a growing oligarchy.
One figure Sanders has cited comes from RAND Corporation research. The analysis estimates that people in the bottom 90% of earners would have received about $79 trillion more in cumulative income from 1975 through 2023 if income growth had remained more broadly shared. This is a counterfactual estimate of foregone income—not evidence that $79 trillion in cash was literally taken from one group and transferred to another. RAND’s earlier analysis used the postwar decades as a comparison, finding that economic growth was more broadly shared before income gains became less even after 1975. (SENATE)
That history offers one way to understand the scale of today’s debate over economic inequality. It does not, by itself, explain every cause of financial stress or how each household experiences it. The pressures facing families can include the cost of food, housing, transportation and medical care, as well as job insecurity and difficulty making ends meet.
Federal policy has also changed. In 2025, Congress enacted a law that changed Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including rules affecting eligibility, enrollment, benefits and program financing. The Congressional Budget Office projects the law will reduce Medicaid outlays by about $1.2 trillion from 2026 to 2035 and SNAP outlays by about $211 billion through 2035. These are projections of federal spending—not a direct count of how many people in Florida will lose assistance. (CBO)
Financial strain is more than a budget issue. CDC-published research links financial strain with higher risks of depression, anxiety and poor physical health. Stress affects people differently, but prolonged pressure can shape health, relationships and daily decisions. Some people may turn to alcohol or other substances to cope; stress can also be a trigger for heavy drinking or a return to drinking for some people. (CDC)
Financial hardship is often discussed in numbers. But behind those numbers are people trying to manage work, family, health and the next month’s bills. Can we hear what our neighbors are saying—and what can our communities do to help?
