Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans hit hardest by high inflation, survey finds

Record inflation is taking an especially heavy toll on racial minorities in the United States. More than two-thirds of Native Americans and half of Blacks and Latinos report that recent price increases have caused “serious financial problems,” according to a survey from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Although some results relate to long-term barriers and inequities, the disparities uncovered in the survey also point to a handful of short-term, pressing problems that are deeply concerning, says Robert J. Blendon, co-director of the survey and emeritus professor at the Harvard school.

“We’ve been looking at disparities for many years, but the acute needs caught us a bit off guard,” he says. “In this period when we’re all suffering from inflation, people are at high risk for either being homeless or actually not being able to feed their families.”

Across all groups, more than 60% of adults say the lack of affordable housing available to buy is a serious problem in their neighborhoods. The numbers are similar for affordable rental housing. But when it comes specifically to evictions, the burden is falling heavily on Black renters; 16% say they either have been evicted or threatened with eviction, while 9% of white renters report similar experiences.

Along with housing insecurity, financial problems often mean people have trouble making payments on credit cards or loans, or face other serious issues. More than 40% of Black and Native American adults and 36% of Latinos say this is the case for them.

Having enough money for even basic necessities is a challenge for many households. About one-third of Black and Latino adults say they are having serious problems affording food, compared with 21% of white adults. The problem is greatest for Native Americans, with nearly 40% struggling to put food on the table.

Health care’s straining family budgets

In addition, the high cost of health care is straining family budgets. More than 20% of Black and Native American adults say affording medical care or prescription drugs is a serious problem. The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted health care and left many Americans sicker. Routine health care was interrupted, and chronic illnesses often went unmanaged.

100 million people in U.S. saddled with health care debt

Although the worst of the pandemic has subsided for the health-care system, delays in receiving medical care persist for some groups. Among U.S. households in which someone has been seriously ill, 24% of Black, 18% of Latino and 18% of white households say they were unable to get medical care for serious illnesses when they needed it in the past year. It’s even higher (35%) for Native Americans.

Overall, the poll makes it clear that racial and ethnic minorities are struggling to keep up while navigating the increasingly tenuous economic situation and the aftershocks of the social upheaval brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is a crisis of inflation and also in the public schools,” Blendon says. “It’s more than just ‘We’re narrowing gaps’ or ‘We’re not narrowing gaps.’ It’s that people could really get hurt unless they can get some help here in the next short-term period.”