Almost more than any other issue, affordability has come to affect Mainers across the board.
Economic inflation has been accelerating faster than personal incomes, forcing many Mainers to prioritize which bills they will pay and which ones can wait. From sticker shock in the grocery checkout line to eye popping gas prices to astronomical health insurance premiums, keeping up with rising costs seems harder than ever.
For that reason, the Bangor Daily News has decided to devote more resources to covering the affordability issues that average Mainers face — and we want to talk to you about it. We plan to examine the crisis from different angles, with an eye to how people are feeling the financial pinch of these hard times and how they’re getting by.
Here’s what we already know:
The gap between what people earn and what they spend on daily necessities like groceries, gas and childcare is widening. In Waldo County, the median household income is about $73,000. But the cost of living for a family of 4 is more like $114,000 per year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank.
Inequality is increasing. Economists like to delicately call this a “k-shaped economy,” with the diverging arms of the letter representing the growing gap between people who are wealthy and people who aren’t. Or, to put it another way, the rich are getting richer and everyone else is getting poorer.
In Maine, income inequality is a bit better than in the U.S. overall, but the disparity is still stark. In Maine, the richest fifth of the population makes about 14.5 times more than the poorest fifth of the population. And inequality is much higher in rural places like Washington County than in the Portland area and southern Maine.
So far, we’ve reported on how some Mainers are turning to unregulated health insurance alternatives because they can’t afford healthcare premiums. We’ve also looked at how the affordability crisis is affecting farmers and how the sour economy looms over the upcoming tourist season.
As this reporting continues, look for a mix of stories going forward. We’ll track the prices of everyday necessities like food and fuel to see how they’re changing over time. We’ll explain things like how to sign up for paid family leave or negotiate medical bills. We will zero in on families’ weekly budgets to see where the money goes. We’ll dig into the structural factors behind rising prices and widening inequality. And we’ll highlight the creative ways people find to get by.
We need your help to tell these stories. The affordability crisis may not hit us all with equal severity, but most of us feel it to some extent. And we want to hear about what you’re seeing, how you’re coping, and what sort of hacks you may have to save money.
Are you buying less food? Bartering? Driving less? Dropping health insurance or delaying care?
Are you letting some bills slip, like student loans or property taxes?
Parents, how are you dealing with childcare costs?
Older folks, have you gotten a second job?
We’d love to hear from you as we embark on this project. We hope you’ll keep tabs on what you’re experiencing and will share your observations with us.
If you want to give us ideas or tell us your story, contact me at [email protected].
