A new report by the liberal Urban Institute (“As Inflation Squeezed Family Budgets, Food Insecurity Increased between 2021 and 2022”) reviews the negative effects of inflation on millions of American families—even as it proposes a series of “policy actions” (read: massive spending increases) that would make that harm far worse.

As the report summarizes: 

In 2022, inflation affected households’ grocery costs more commonly than other essential expenses, such as gasoline, home heating, child care, health insurance, and rent or mortgage costs. Although inflation rates have slowed in recent months, prices for groceries in December 2022 were nearly 12 percent higher than prices in December 2021.  During this period, inflation also increased for rent and other common household costs, putting pressure on families’ finances, especially those with limited or fixed incomes. (emphasis added)

Here’s more from the report on the specific harm Americans are experiencing as a result of rising prices for groceries, gas, and rent:

Rising Grocery Costs

In December 2022, more than 6 in 10 adults (63.2 percent) reported that their families’ grocery costs increased a lot in the last year (figure 4). Prior research indicates that this likely increased the risk that these families may experience food insecurity and have insufficient economic resources to secure enough food for a healthy and active life (Gregory and Coleman-Jensen 2013).

Overall, we find that Black and Hispanic/Latinx adults were more likely than white adults to experience food insecurity and use financial coping strategies in response to higher grocery costs in 2022, signaling that inflation could deepen racial and ethnic disparities in credit health and wealth.

Rising Gas Costs

In early 2022, families that relied on cars were also more vulnerable to price shocks stemming from increased gas prices, as in many parts of the US, a car is needed to maintain employment and access services. In December 2022, more than half of adults (55.5 percent) reported that their gasoline costs increased a lot in the last year (figure 4).

Rising Rent Costs

Additionally, increased inflation in housing costs placed additional pressure on renters. In 2022, about 1 in 4 adults in households that pay rent (26.2 percent) reported their rent costs increased by a lot, compared with nearly 1 in 12 homeowners (8.1 percent) who reported the same about their mortgage costs. Specifically, with surges in rent prices in 2022, prior research indicates that this may leave some families with uncertain housing circumstances and leave them at risk of being evicted or experiencing food insecurity (Fletcher et al. 2009).

Even though the pandemic is over, the report concludes by calling for a series of “policy actions” that would revive pandemic-era government benefits: providing more and bigger food stamp benefits (even as they remain at historically high levels), a renewal of universal “free” school meals, and the restoration of the 2021 child tax credit expansion, for starters. The report’s authors also propose the creation of massive new entitlement programs, including expensive baby bond and even more expensive universal basic income programs (which the report euphemistically calls “direct income supports”).

That’s a multi-trillion-dollar agenda that exceeds even the wild-eyed spending proposed in President Biden’s recent budget plan. Not only is that politically implausible, it’s also more of the runaway spending that even some Democrats argue contributed to the high inflation with which families are now struggling.

This kind of circular reasoning demonstrates that even as experts may correctly identify the harms everyday Americans are experiencing, they are not above proposing “policy actions” that would make those problems even worse.

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