Georgetown Center Report Reveals Widespread Cost of Living Struggles Across Georgia
A recent report from the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality indicates that up to 70% of Georgia residents are struggling to afford basic necessities such as food, housing, healthcare, or childcare. The center's national family economic well-being index, which measures economic pressures on families, highlights that 36% of Georgians are burdened by food costs, and 48% face challenges with healthcare expenses. Furthermore, 40% of respondents reported struggling to afford multiple basic needs. Lelaine Bigelow, the center's executive director, noted that these concerns about the cost of living extend across socioeconomic classes, with nearly half of the upper-middle 20% of the population experiencing at least one economic burden, in addition to 99% of the bottom 20%. Danilo Trisi, one of the researchers, pointed out that state-level policies, particularly regarding Medicaid expansion, significantly impact residents' healthcare affordability.
