Increasing the Cost of Living in the United States Essay Sample

As 2022 continues, there are countless issues that the United States is going to face, but one that stands out is the increase of prices. Costs in the United States are being raised to the point that lower income or unemployed citizens cannot afford. Cost is increasing on simple things including fuel, food, cars, and various other items. This issue could be a major problem for the United States because citizens' lives could be heavily affected and alter their lives. Increasing the cost of living will cause a drastic change in how people live their daily lives. COVID-19 and wars around the world can be blamed for this vast increase of products in the United States. Citizens of the United States should be informed and educated on the prices and what they can do about them. This could be the biggest challenge that the United States will face in 2022, since it so heavily affects the people and there is a great chance that the prices are going to continue to grow. 

A great deal of items costs are being increased in 2022, including cars, meat, housing prices, fuel, and numerous other necessities. While all of these items are essential to life, a popular debate topic recently has included the price of fuel in the United States. Gasoline prices have increased 58.1% within the last year. Though that seems like a significant increase, some states are going to raise gasoline prices even more. If gasoline costs keep growing at this rate it can add up to thousands of dollars a year for some individuals. Another important component that is being dramatically increased is medical care. Paying for medical care has been a major problem even long before the pandemic occurred, now medical care costs are up 8.4% since 2020. A big portion of Americans can already not afford medical care, if prices stay radically climbing then medical care will be out of reach from people who desperately need it. Food also seems to have a lot of media surrounding it when it comes to the increase of prices. This could be because food is one of the most crucial parts of life. Unlike many of the other things that are becoming more expensive, people cannot avoid buying food since it is such an important part of life. The prices of an innumerable amount of things are increasing at a frightening rate, this has people questioning why the prices are rising so fast. 

A lot of factors play a part of why prices increase on goods, but what is causing the inflation in 2022, is COVID-19 and wars. The COVID-19 pandemic is mainly to blame for this inflation as it has impacted global supply chains. When COVID-19 hit it drastically affected the prices of products, like toilet paper and hand sanitizer. This happened because the pandemic led to increased demand for certain products as people stocked up on essentials.  Increases in the consumer price index are making products more expensive as the effects of COVID-19 are still weighing down on global supply chains. Recent U.S. inflation levels have been well above those in other industrialized nations, an example is Europe. Now in 2022, the reasoning for gas prices being so high has a lot to do with the Russian invasion on Ukraine that has taken place. It has caused oil prices to surge. In 2022 prices rising is due to more demand for goods and services than what is available. Another explanation for this issue is that wages have been growing over the past few years, which also puts upward pressure on prices. Although there are good reasons backing up the recent prices in the United States, it still does not mean it will not affect our country in a negative way. 

If prices continue to rise to the point where things become almost unaffordable, individuals in our country will be in trouble. The prices of things are already causing eeriness to people wondering if they will be able to afford food or gas within the next year. These soaring prices have become a significant threat to the middle class. When common products costs like gas and food are skyrocketing it can be concerning and cause frustration among people. In February, the three-year average inflation rate reached 4.3 percent, indicating that the latest spike in consumer prices is not a joke and should be taken seriously. Our country needs to address the price issue and educate people how it could potentially impact them. It causes much stress and strain to Americans that have been living comfortably with the prices for years, and all of the sudden prices are growing at an alarming rate. 

As can be guessed, stopping the increase of goods is not an easy task to do, but there are things that can help. People can be educated about how better to spend their money and what to do to save money. They can also portion their needs, like gas and food, do not go on unnecessary drives and do not buy a wasteful amount of food. Although this seems annoying and people should not have to adjust their lifestyle to the current situation, it is necessary.  People can also start taking advantage of weekly sales. Coupons can also come in handy when you need to save money. A lot of stores now use digital coupons, so it is easier to access.  Having to adjust to the price increase may be a burden to citizens, but it is completely unavoidable at this point to keep spending like people once did. 

The prices of goods is a concerning topic in the United States today and can lead to challenges ahead and affect how everyday individuals live. This current price situation is only getting worse, affecting the way people live their lives . In 2022, individuals will begin to struggle to afford the basic commodities that are essential to people. This can lead to people not being able to afford gas for their cars and food for their families. While people can learn to adjust and how to better spend their money, should that really be something they have to do? Obviously prices increasing have significant reasons to back it up, but it is unfair to the lives of the United States. When people before 2022 were having trouble affording basic necessities, think about what it will do now to those people. The increase of prices in the United States is going to be one of the largest challenges for the country in the year 2022, since it affects the citizens and causes concern for our country.