OHIO — An average household in Ohio must spend $9,949 more to maintain the same standard of living it had in Jan. 2021, when President Joe Biden took office, according to Republicans on the Senate Joint Economic Committee.
What You Need To Know
- A Senate Republican report says Ohio households must spend nearly $10,000 more annually since 2021 to maintain their standard of living
- Inflation remains a top issue for a majority of voters
- Inflation has been declining in recent months, while real wages have been rising
Inflation has cut into everything from food to fuel. It would take $117 in Oct. 2023 dollars to match the buying power of $100 in Jan. 2021 dollars, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“That means a lot of Christmas gifts are not going to be purchased for kids this year. That means a lot of family meals are not going to have the same things that they might have had a couple of years ago,” said Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio. “We just cannot deliver prosperity to the American people when they’re finding it so much harder to afford the basic necessities.”
Vance is among Senate Republicans who blame the higher cost of living on Biden’s policies, part of a strategy to make inflation a thorny issue for Democrats and especially Biden ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Senate Democrats said the pandemic and other forces beyond the president’s control helped drive prices higher.
“A big cause for inflation was during the pandemic. Companies, four kinds of companies, drug companies, oil companies, meatpacking companies and transportation companies, raised their prices, basically predatory pricing,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. “One of the things we do, obviously, is go after some of those companies that have particularly abused the public trust. The Fed has begun to bring prices down and bring inflation down. Those are good moves. We need to do more.”
As part of his efforts to tame inflation, Biden this week announced 30 measures to strengthen the nation’s supply chains, which caused major problems during the pandemic.
“We know the prices are still too high for too many things, that times are still too tough for too many families. But we’ve made progress, but we have more work to do,” Biden said.
The president pointed to some progress: the average Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people cost 4.5% less this year than last, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Despite that news, consumers are getting more pessimistic about the economy, according to a survey by the University of Michigan.
That pessimism illustrates the pinch many families have felt in the last two years, while inflation has been rising faster than wage growth.
That could soon change, however. Personal finance site Bankrate predicts wages will catch up to inflation by the end of the year.
Higher purchasing power for consumers could have huge implications for the 2024 election, as recent polls show inflation is a top issue for a majority of voters.
