Americans Earning Less Than $100k Struggle To Afford Day-To-Day Living Expenses

The phrase “cost of living crisis” has cropped up constantly since inflation started to sky-rocket in 2021, but what does it really mean for American workers on the ground?

While inflation has thankfully slowed to 6 percent (the lowest since September 2021) after it peaked at 9.1 percent in June of last year, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4 percent in February after increasing 0.6 percent in January.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell told Congress in March its aim is to reduce interest rates to as little as 2 percent, however Powell hinted that inflation would have to continue to increase in the coming months.

Average hourly earnings are up

And although average hourly earnings are up 4.6 percent, year-on-year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that real average earnings for all employees decreased 0.1% in February, despite remote workers’ banking savings of up to $5,000 per year.

Couple the above with the recent data that found the majority of middle income families who earn between $30,000 and $100,000 now say their earnings aren’t enough to cover basic day-to-day living expenses and you can understand why so many families are struggling to put food on the table—figuratively and literally.

Enter the “Perkcession”

Those jobs that were once seen as especially lucrative thanks to their plethora of perks and benefits are also feeling the pinch as organizations retrench. For many employees, once cushioned by on-site free snacks or unlimited PTO, a perkcession of sorts is underway.

In fact, employers from Wall Street to Silicon Valley have been rescinding non-traditional benefits.

The likes of Meta have ended free laundry and dry cleaning services as part of its “year of efficiency”, and Salesforce has stopped its extra day off per month for wellness policy (in-house speciality baristas at the company’s San Francisco HQ were also shown the door), as its stocks continue to plummet, down 47 percent in February from a high of $311.75 on November 9, 2021.

The silver lining is that despite tech’s tightening of its belt, the labor market is exceeding economists’ expectations.

And despite mass layoffs across the sector to the tune of 153,873 people at 529 companies, 517,000 jobs were added to the labor market in January of this year, meaning securing a new job with an annual salary of more than $100,000 is feasible as competition to attract talent remains stiff.

With this in mind, we’re profiling three jobs spread across various sectors that have a minimum starting salary of $100,000. You can also browse thousands of jobs via The Hill Job Board.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Specialist, US Federal Reserve System–Board of Governors, Washington

The Role: The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Specialist ensures equal employment opportunity (EEO) programs are compliant with non-discrimination laws and regulations, bank EEO policy and requirements specified in the Federal Reserve Administrative Manual (FRAM) regarding EEO.

Salary Range: Successful candidates can expect to earn between $117,000 and $173,000 a year.