Another thing that’s affecting basically everyone is increasing levels of personal debt.

creditkarma.com/…/americans-have-a-net-worth-prob…

About a 1/3 of Americans have 0 to negative net worth.

Every time you see a headline article about income/wages going up, unemployment going down… remember that it is very, very difficult to find good numbers on debt levels, as they take far more effort to measure than many other metrics which are reported much more directly and more routinely.

This, and absurd housing/rent prices, are the main reasons you get the mismatch between the ‘good’ economic picture painted by the headlines people usually publish more, and the perceived reality on the ground of growing poverty and financial difficulty.

The lower class just has more and more debt that grows much faster than the minute income increases or inflation lowering. If you’re paying 20 to 30 to even 40% on credit cards or microloans or payday advances, inflation lowering from 4% to 2% or your wage increasing by 4% is basically meaningless.