The Consumer Price Index For Education - 1166 Words

Households are not captivating as much as they need for their respective sustenance of needs. In Rolph’s (2012) summary article outlining wages versus prices, and he claims the economy supposedly gained 163,000 jobs in July 2012, and for those Americans lucky enough to have work, it may not be enough. Incomes have risen over time from the 1970’s, but not at the same rate that the Consumer Price Index has. As reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2014 in Poverty USA (2014), 47 million people lived in poverty, which means the poverty rate for 2014 was 15%. The year before the 2008 recession, poverty rate had an increase of 2.3% by 2014 (Poverty USA, 2014). As many Americans fluctuate around the poverty line during several recessions over the†¦show more content†¦Despite this, the overall cost of food has continuously increased (USDA ERS Historical CPI,2014). Prices for basic food groups such as, processed fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy, and poultry have each had their own changes in prices. From 2000 to 2014, eggs have had the greatest amount of price increase, while sugar and sweets had one of the lowest. Not surprisingly, foods that are considered healthy, like organic fruits and vegetables, have had a greater increase in price when compared to nonorganic. This makes it harder for the average family to be able to afford to a nutritious diet (USDA ERS Historical CPI,2014). Households are defined by McConnell, Brue, and Flynn (2015) in their book, Economics: Principles, Problems, Policies, as Economic entities (of one or more persons occupying a housing unit) that provide resources to the economy and use the income received to purchase goods and services that satisfy economic wants. Households have been seeing an increase in their income over time. The empirical proof of that fact lies in several journals published by U.S. Government Printing Office. In Selected Social and Economic Characteristics of Households Money Income in 1975 (1977), the journal recorded a home income of $13,094. The next decade, another article is published and outlines an income of $26,433