Rising costs and tight budgets strain Americans ahead of midterm elections
Rising costs leave US workers juggling multiple jobs as financial security becomes increasingly elusive.
Stacy Eichel, an empty nester in Florida, spent years balancing two jobs. One was in healthcare; the other was her own venture: a small business making custom-branded merchandise for corporate clients, such as coffee mugs and T-shirts that companies hand out at conferences and holiday parties.
For Eichel, the business was more than a paycheque. It was a side hustle for a woman who couldn’t sit still, who was always hungry for the next opportunity. It was the kind of business that thrived when companies had a little extra to spend on small branded trinkets to make an otherwise mundane corporate conference something memorable.
In September 2025, Eichel lost her job in marketing for a healthcare company after a merger. Suddenly, the business she had run on the side had to shoulder more of the burden of supporting her. Yet just as she needed it to provide more, the market for her products was shrinking.
Twenty percent of respondents said they had received food from a food bank or pantry over the past year.