The Affordability Problem Isn’t About Wages — It’s About Prices

Americans are clear-eyed on what they want the government to do to address the affordability crisis: Step in to lower costs before trying to boost wages.

Six in 10 people say the government should prioritize bringing down the cost of everyday essentials — like groceries, electricity bills and gas prices — rather than prioritize raising household incomes, according to results from The POLITICO Poll conducted this August.

The results suggest policies intended to lower prices may be more politically powerful than those aimed at increasing incomes, like raising the minimum wage or removing tax on tips for hourly workers.

“People feel like that’s an easier fix because the government has not demonstrated that they’re going to change the wage structure,” said Jennifer Jones Austin, co-chair of the National True Cost of Living Coalition, a nonpartisan advocacy group that researches sustainable wages.

The POLITICO Poll has repeatedly asked Americans whether they believe the core issue driving the affordability crisis is high prices or stagnant wages. Every time, they say it’s rising costs — and by a two-to-one margin.

This August, Americans were also asked to state their preference between two possible government priorities to help alleviate cost-of-living concerns: “Raising wages and household incomes so people can afford rising prices,” or bringing down costs “so people don’t need higher incomes.”

Politicians have focused on a number of solutions to alleviate cost-of-living concerns, ranging from increasing the federal minimum wage to $25 to piloting federally-backed job guarantees. Still, poll results indicate voters may be more keen on — or optimistic about — legislation focused on prices.

Across all income levels, political ideologies and levels of education, majorities of people agree that the government should first step in to lower costs.

More than 60% of those who voted for President Donald Trump and those that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 say the government should prioritize bringing down costs over raising household incomes.

Even among those with a household income of less than $25,000 per year, 56% say the government should work to lower costs first — more than double the share of those who say the government should prioritize addressing wages first.

Most Americans want to see action out of Washington.

More than 70% of people say the federal government should do more to address affordability than it currently does, but that it is choosing not to — including 65% of Trump voters and 84% of Harris voters. Just 16% of people said the federal government can’t help on affordability any more than it already does.

In reality, the government should address both prices and wages, Jones Austin said. Efforts to reduce prices are critical, she said, but “if your resources are depressed, you will never be able to build assets, which in America is essential for economic security.”

More than half the country said the cost of living in their area is the worst they “can ever remember it being” this August, about 55%.

And some people appear to be losing hope. More than 25% of people said it's been 20 years or more since the last time they felt like everyday items were affordable, and nearly two-thirds of the public say it's harder or impossible to move up the socioeconomic ladder in America than it used to be.