The Daily Money: Living paycheck to paycheck
Good morning! It’s Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money.
Lower-income households aren’t the only ones living paycheck to paycheck.
A growing share of middle- and higher-income families are spending virtually all of their paychecks on essentials and have little or nothing left over each month for discretionary purchases or savings, Paul Davidson reports. (Hmm: Sounds like many journalists we have known.)
The trend could curtail consumer spending, which makes up 70% of economic activity.
Here's why many households are struggling.
Caregivers, too, are struggling financially
When she was 29 years old, Jacquelyn Revere received a phone call from a family friend while riding the New York City subway to a comedy show. Revere needed to go home to Los Angeles right away. Something was wrong with her mom.
Revere immediately took a 21-day leave from her job and flew to California. She would spend the next six years caring for her mother and grandmother, both dementia patients.
The cost of caregiving isn’t just ravaging the finances of older Americans, Medora Lee reports, but also those of younger generations who provide the care.
College tuition is getting cheaper
Americans love to grouse about the rising cost of college. But consider this: The average in-state student at a public university now pays only $2,480 a year in net tuition and fees.
Tuition, of course, is only one item on the list of college expenses. Room and board can cost more. But the full cost of attending a public college is falling, rather than rising, after you adjust it for inflation.
The average net price in tuition and fees for an in-state student at a four-year public college has plummeted by 40% in a decade, after inflation, from $4,140 in 2014-15 to an estimated $2,480 in 2024-25, according to a new report from the College Board.
Other college costs are going down, as well.
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About The Daily Money
Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer and financial news from Paste BN, breaking down complex events, providing the TLDR version, and explaining how everything from Fed rate changes to bankruptcies impacts you.
Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.