The cost of being poor is rising. And it’s worse for poor families of color.
“In a previous post, I note that an alarmingly high fraction of U.S. families—somewhere between one-third and 43%—do not have resources sufficient to pay for basic needs. The proportions are significantly worse for families of color, exceeding one-half. This observation stems from data that carefully collects basic budget information by county and family structure from thousands of counties in the U.S. The simple fact is that it’s expensive to live in most places in the country, and incomes far too often fall short of local costs of living. The number of families that fall short is shocking.”