The American middle class has absorbed a steep increase in the cost of health care and other necessities as incomes have stagnated over the past half decade, a squeeze that has forced families to cut back spending on everything from clothing to restaurants.
Health-care spending by middle-income Americans rose 24% between 2007 and 2013, driven by an even larger rise in the cost of buying health insurance, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of detailed consumer-spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That hit has been accompanied by increases in spending on other necessities, including food eaten at home, rent and education, as well as the soaring cost of staying connected digitally via cellphones and home Internet service.
Sorry, but as a person just old enough to remember having to wait for the Bell man to come install a phone, I’ll never be sold on the idea that a cellphone and other wireless devices are a “basic cost”. People got along just fine with landlines and answering machines back in the day, and they were a lot less hassled too.
I agree with Vatican Watcher — cell phones are wonderfully convenient, but not necessities. Neither is cable.