Everyday Americans are worried about the cost of living, and more than 60 percent feel prices are heading in the wrong direction. American life has become more expensive in recent years, including daily necessities like groceries, child care, rent, and gas, and wealth-building opportunities like homeownership and college degrees.

Urban research shows that more than half of people in the country live in families that do not have the resources to cover what it costs to live securely in their communities. As a result, these families struggle to pay their bills or save for the future, limiting their opportunities for economic mobility.

Although many factors drive up prices, elected leaders at all levels have a mandate to support policies that can make life more affordable for these families.

Here, we identify evidence-backed and promising solutions across four key costs—housing, child care, health care, and food—as well as ways to boost earnings and income that local, state, and federal leaders can pursue. These solutions are meant to help leaders at all levels of government, so we have organized them by local, state, and federal actions. However, some solutions may be actionable across multiple levels of government. Given recent federal funding cuts, we have prioritized solutions that will help state and local leaders to do more to address rising affordability concerns.

The solutions we’ve identified aim to reduce costs, take expenses off households' books, and help families to bring in more money. Some of these solutions will require additional investment from policymakers, but many are cost-neutral or low-cost. None of these solutions alone will fix the affordability crisis, nor will every solution benefit all families. In fact, some solutions may raise costs for certain families absent counterbalances. But all these solutions seek to improve people’s daily finances and, in turn, set up American residents to build wealth and a better future.

Urban is ready to work with policymakers at all levels of government. Collaborating with Urban can help policymakers and local leaders design and implement these solutions in their communities. Reach out to us at [email protected].

PROJECT CREDITS

This brief was funded by the Urban Institute. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. Funders do not determine research findings or the insights and recommendations of our experts.

Research Urban Institute's American Affordability Initiative staff

We will continue to update this brief periodically to improve, add, or clarify solutions.