Will the next U.S. president improve life for ordinary Americans?

Editor's note: Yi Fan is a current affairs commentator based in Beijing. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The U.S. presidential campaigns are in full swing, and the election in November will be the center of attention in America and beyond. Whoever wins will sit in the Oval Office. But when can ordinary Americans pop the champagne to cheer their improved living conditions?

While politicians in Washington tout "strong job growth" and "inflation cooling," countless Americans still find it difficult to make ends meet. Many are struggling under an unbearable weight.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the misguided fiscal policies of the U.S. government led to a continuously galloping inflation hitting a 40-year high. Three-plus years of high inflation have been a terrible experience for Americans. Households are forced to spend more to meet everyday needs such as food and rent. According to Fox Business calculations, since the start of 2021, food prices have gone up 33.7 percent, accommodation 18.7 percent, and energy prices 32.8 percent.

A recent survey by the Federal Reserve indicates that inflation continues to weigh down Americans: Over two-thirds of U.S. adults have become worse off because of it. Among them, 19 percent said it was "much worse." One in six couldn't pay all their monthly bills. Monthly budgets were constrained, and over half of adults had no money left over after covering their expenses. This was particularly evident among lower-income adults, who reported frequent food insecurity, inability to pay bills in full, and skipping medical care.

Affordable housing is in dire straits. Besides exorbitant home prices, mortgage rates still remain higher than anything seen in the decade before 2022. The supply of affordable homes is woefully inadequate to meet the demand. Both homeowners and renters alike have faced mounting housing costs in recent years. According to a report from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, 23.2 percent of homeowner households "are now stretched worryingly thin."

Data published by the Fed in May reveals that U.S. consumers are taking on significantly more debt to sustain their spending, and many are struggling to make timely payments. The percentage of credit card balances in serious delinquency (90 days or more late) has notably peaked since 2012.

The wealth gap in the U.S. has hit the worst scenario since the Great Depression of 1929. Fed data shows that the top one percent of American earners now possess more wealth than the entire middle class. Over a quarter of all household wealth is held by those in the top income percentile, while the bottom 20 percent account for just 3 percent.

This reminds me of 2011 when demonstrators in the Occupy Wall Street movement held up signs saying "We are the 99 percent" to express their discontent with inequality. But more than a decade on, the U.S. is still stuck on the old track of the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer.

Amid U.S. politicians boasting about their success in curbing inflation and bolstering the job market, a staggering number of Americans find themselves without stable accommodation. According to the 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of homeless people across the world's richest country surpassed 650,000, marking a new high since the data was available in 2007. As San Francisco prepared to host the APEC Leaders' Meeting in 2023, the city conducted a massive cleanup operation, deploying large trucks to clear homeless encampments off the streets. However, immediately after the summit, the sidewalks in the city were packed with tents again.

When casting their vote, Americans will be hoping that their candidate will take them to a better life. As the world wonders who the next leader of the superpower will be, ordinary Americans are facing a more urgent question: "Will the next one sitting in the White House make a difference in my life?"

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