Middle-income families left behind in Stanislaus and Merced counties
The growth of Silicon Valley industries has attracted high earners willing and able to pay inflated Bay Area housing prices. Rents have soared, disproportionately affecting people across all communities.
Yet, one invisible group elected officials do not talk about is middle-income families. Many have been forced to relocate away from expensive communities in search of more affordable housing, thereby lengthening their commutes to work.
If you sprinkle in rising inflation, inflated gasoline prices, increasing healthcare costs, and political neglect, you have a recipe for the financial collapse of middle-income families.
In the Central Valley counties of Merced and Stanislaus, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get off the poverty treadmill.
Merced County has more than 286,000 residents, of which almost 80,000 are children under 18. Most distressing is that 77% of those children are enrolled in Medi-Cal. Just north in Stanislaus County, which has about 550,000 residents, more than 143,000 are under 18, and 68% of those children participate in the Medi-Cal program.
The challenges facing these families grow exponentially, but the enormity of problems facing poor children is far more significant. This quiet crisis continues to perplex many.
A recent Legacy Health Endowment survey of middle-income Merced and Stanislaus County residents found that nearly all (96%) are concerned about inflation and the rising cost of living (the intensity of concern is unprecedented, with some 70% saying they are very concerned), and more than 80% of people are stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed by inflation and the rising cost of living. A like number admit they have had difficulty paying even their basic household expenses.
The survey shows the growing impact of inflation and spiraling prices for everyday necessities such as food, shelter, gas, and prescription medicine on families, many of whom routinely are forced to choose between paying rent, putting food on the table or being able to afford medications.
A supermajority of respondents (67%) say it has not been easy to pay their household bills, and more than a third (41%) say they have not been able to regularly pay their bills on time because of inflation and the cost of living.
Well over a majority (61.7%) say they live paycheck to paycheck with no real ability to save for the future or pay down debt.
44% say rising gas or transportation costs have hurt their ability to pay for housing.
76% are afraid that inflation and the cost of living will make it harder to pay for prescriptions and more than half (52%) are concerned about their ability to pay for prescriptions for themselves or family members.
Nearly one-quarter (24.3%) has postponed going to the doctor as a result of inflation and the rising cost of living.
More than 22% have not taken a prescription medication because of its cost. The same number has dipped into savings, borrowed money, or used a credit card to pay for prescribed medicines in the past six months.
About 12% say they have faced food insecurity within their household because of what they had to pay for prescriptions.
The survey results assist us in building solutions to address the healthcare needs of all residents. People should not have to go further into debt to cover healthcare costs.
For the more than 75% of residents whose lives are being ravaged by skyrocketing inflation and soaring prices, they cannot afford to fill or refill life-saving medications. The state remains unresponsive, and residents feel it. A majority (59%) feels the state of California is not doing enough to lower prescription drug prices.
Inflation and the soaring cost of living in Central California are emblematic of other rural communities across America.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.