Most Black, Latino households report ‘serious financial problems’ from inflation: poll

A majority of Black, Native American and Latino households are struggling with serious financial problems amid a 40-year high inflation rate, according to a new poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

About 58 percent of African Americans, 69 percent of Native Americans and 56 percent of Latinos report struggling with serious financial problems due to inflation.

Among white households, that number is 44 percent, while only 36 percent of Asians report struggling with serious financial problems, the poll shows.

The poll shows that inflation is driving up existing concerns such as high health care costs and the lack of affordable housing in the nation, which disproportionately affects minority groups the most.

Around two-thirds of all Black, Native American, white, Asian and Latinos say affordable housing is a serious problem in their neighborhoods, according to the poll.

Twenty-four percent of Black households, 18 percent of Latino households, 35 percent of Native American households, 18 percent of white households and 10 percent of Asian households say they have delayed health care for serious illnesses in the last year, according to the poll.

The news comes as the U.S. has seen two consecutive quarters of a shrinking gross domestic product (GDP).

High gas prices and climbing prices at the grocery store are hitting the average American’s wallet, but the poll shows minorities are struggling the most in the high-inflation environment.

About 58 percent of Black adults report they do not have enough emergency savings to cover at least one month of their expenses, the poll shows. The same is true for 53 percent of Latinos, 58 percent of Native Americans, 20 percent of Asians and 38 percent of whites.

The Senate on Sunday passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to lower prescription drug prices via Medicare, reduce the U.S. deficit, earn new revenue through tax overhauls and fight climate change.

President Biden on Sunday hailed the passage of the historic legislation and said the bill “tackles inflation by lowering the deficit and lowering costs for regular families.”