Valdosta residents and others across Georgia are facing significant economic pressure, with as many as 70% of the state’s population reporting struggles to afford basic necessities. This includes essentials such as food, housing, healthcare, or childcare, according to new data released by the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality.
The findings are part of the center’s national family economic well-being index, an initiative designed to measure the financial pressures families are experiencing and the extent to which they are being squeezed by the rising cost of living. In Georgia, the data revealed that 36% of respondents were burdened by food costs, while a higher 48% indicated they faced challenges related to healthcare expenses. Furthermore, 40% of those surveyed reported struggling to afford multiple basic needs simultaneously.
Researchers at the Georgetown Center stated that this data helps illustrate the broad impact of rising costs on American households. They highlighted that affordability has become a central issue for many Georgia voters, especially in the context of recent midterm elections.
Lelaine Bigelow, the center’s executive director, explained that the research team hears accounts from people across all income levels who feel financially strained by the costs of everyday essentials. She added that the index's purpose is to provide a data-driven understanding of how widespread these economic pressures have become.
One particularly notable result, Bigelow pointed out, was how concerns about the cost of living transcend traditional socioeconomic boundaries. The study showed that 99% of respondents in the bottom 20% income bracket reported experiencing at least one economic burden. However, nearly half of the population in the upper-middle 20% income bracket also reported facing at least one economic challenge. Bigelow emphasized that economic hardship is not limited to families in poverty but extends significantly into the middle class.
Danilo Trisi, one of the researchers involved in developing the index, also commented on the role of state-level policies in affecting residents’ ability to afford critical services such as healthcare and childcare. Trisi noted that in many southern states, including those that opted not to fully expand their Medicaid programs, a greater proportion of residents reported concerns about healthcare costs. He further elaborated that states which did not expand Medicaid tend to have higher insurance costs, which is reflected in the index through a higher percentage of their population burdened by healthcare expenses.
