Many of the traditional milestones of the American middle class have increasingly fallen out of reach under the Biden-Harris administration as high costs and expansive regulations bear down on average people.
The costs of buying a home or car or caring for one’s children have exploded since January 2021, when President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris first took office, compared to the amount average Americans are taking home in pay, according to calculations by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The American middle class’ purchasing power has been degraded by sky-high inflation under the Biden-Harris administration, while high interest rates and government intervention place even more pressure on everyday costs, experts told the DCNF.
“The American middle class has fared terribly since January 2021,” Peter Earle, senior economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, told the DCNF. “They’ve experienced the worst inflation in over 40 years, and interest rates are the highest they’ve been in well over a decade. Not only have they lost purchasing power to inflation, but shrinkflation has changed the size and quality of goods. Regulation has driven costs up and hindered hiring. On top of all that, they’ve been lied to repeatedly, watching their economic hardship increase while the administration tells them not to believe their own eyes or wallets.”
The traditional middle-class milestone of purchasing a home has become less attainable for American families in the past few years, with the median price of a home rising from $357,100 in 2021 to $427,200 in July, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. The standard payment on a median-priced home now costs 26.7% of a family’s income in July, compared to 16.9% in 2021.
Much of the increase in costs has been the result of a surge in mortgage rates since 2021, up from 3.01% in 2021 to 6.93% as of July, according to the NAR. Mortgage rates have been pushed to their recent highs due to a substantial hike in the federal funds rate by the Federal Reserve in an attempt to try and combat high inflation under the Biden-Harris administration.
Many Americans have also been struggling to afford car payments amid high prices and interest rates, and U.S. auto sales have remained stuck below pre-pandemic levels. The number of weeks of income needed for an average family to purchase a new car has increased by an entire month under the Biden-Harris administration, from 32.2 weeks in January 2021 to 36.2 weeks as of September, according to data from Cox Automotive Inc.
“Inflation has been an extreme problem during this administration, at least partially exacerbated by the American Rescue Plan passed back in the beginning of it,” coalition director of American Compass Duncan Braid told the DCNF. “The prices at the grocery store, prices at the gas pump, have all sort of economically weakened the position of the average American family for sure.”
Many parents have also been dealing with increasingly expensive childcare, making it prohibitive for them to enter the workforce to provide more cash for their families. Parents now have to spend an average of $321 weekly to put one kid in daycare, according to a survey from Care.com. The average parents reported spending in 2021 was $226 per week for child care or a daycare center, according to a separate Care.com survey.
Some Americans may also be shifting away from seeking out higher education as costs remain high, which was once seen as a way for individuals to improve their job prospects and break into the middle class. Freshman enrollment declined by 8.5% at public universities in 2024, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Prices have risen by around 20% since President Biden took office, according to the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). Inflation reached a peak of 9% in June 2022, while costs for average Americans from federal regulations hit a record high of $2.1 trillion in 2023.
“Prices are continuing to rise and are still rising faster than they did for many decades,” Earle said. “So, while it’s true that prices aren’t rising at the 9.1% annualized rate that they were two summers ago, they’re still rising at (CPI) over 3%. The cost of living is, even now, becoming less and less tenable for families. A look at the decline of the U.S. savings rate, a spike in bankruptcies, and climbing percentage of car loans in arrears makes clear that the Biden administration and U.S. government broadly are completely misrepresenting the economic fortunes of most U.S. citizens.”
“I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about kind of the approach of the Biden administration to economic policy,” Braid said. “It seems like they are so unable to deliver for the American people because they are wrapped up in these elite concerns, and you can see that by kind of their two flagship policies, one being a failed college loan forgiveness, which obviously goes to benefit wealthier Americans, and two, the electric vehicle mandate and tax credit. Both of these policies don’t really seem to be in any way addressing or speaking to the concerns of the average American. I just think that they are two great examples of the administration sort of missing the mark in actually trying to address the needs of middle class Americans.”
Over half of Americans, 52%, said that they and their family are worse off now compared to four years ago, according to a Gallup poll published Oct. 18. The economy has been a key concern for voters during the 2024 presidential race, with a 54% majority trusting former President Donald Trump to handle the economy compared to 45% who trust Vice President Kamala Harris more, according to a Gallup poll published Oct. 9.
“At the end of the day, when the political speeches are over and the campaign promises evaporate like so much morning dew, Americans are left with their families and their ability to support them,” Earle told the DCNF. “And the capacity to do so has been wrecked more in the past three years than it has in decades.”
Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America
