Despite Biden administration apologists' attempts to spin rocketing inflation as a non-issue for Americans, particularly those in lower-income households, that narrative is ostensibly outed as fake news by the latest Gallup poll.
An overwhelming majority (71%) of U.S. adults' households making less than $40,000 report a financial hardship from the rapid rise in prices of goods and energy heading into the holiday and winter season. That includes 54% of households without a college degree and 45% of all U.S. adults' households, according to the poll.
"As Americans sail into peak holiday shopping season and winter temperatures bring bigger heating bills to much of the country, nearly half of U.S. adults already report that price increases are causing them financial hardship," Gallup's bottom line analysis from the poll concluded. "For most, the problem is not a crisis – but lower-income households are feeling the impact more than others, with nearly three in 10 saying the hardship is severe enough that it is affecting their current standard of living.
"Rising prices are expected to persist, meaning more Americans are likely to report hardship and those most vulnerable are likely to see things get worse before they improve."
The higher earners in society making $100,000 or more (71%), those with a college degree (70%) and Democrats (63%) all are just fine amid the price hikes, reporting no hardship in the poll.
There is some political delineation to the responses in the poll, as Republicans (42%) are far more likely to report "moderate hardship" from inflation than Democrats (28%). Notably, independents are more in line statistically with Republicans than Democrats, making the political issue a bit more palpable for the GOP heading into the midterms.
The Gallup poll was conducted Nov. 3-16 among 1,598 adults 18 and older and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.