As income inequality grows, a state senator renews the call to strengthen Rhode Island’s safety net
The growing disparity between the wealthy and ordinary citizens has deepened in Rhode Island, leaving many families without access to affordable housing, medical care, or even enough food.
“We must not accept the increasing concentration of wealth at the top while ordinary people lack affordable housing, health care and even food,” she writes.
As the federal government shutdown continues, about 145,000 Rhode Islanders depending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) remain unable to access funds for basic food needs. Regardless of when the administration fulfills the court order to release at least partial benefits, hunger is already worsening across the state. Nearly 40 percent of residents now experience food insecurity.
Recent data from HousingWorks RI reveals a troubling gap between income and living costs. The median income for renters stands at $48,434, yet no city or town in Rhode Island offers a two-bedroom apartment that households earning under $60,000 per year can reasonably afford. In most cases, an annual income of $75,000 to $100,000 is required.
Similarly, families earning under $100,000 cannot afford the median-priced home anywhere in the state. This affordability crisis mirrors broader economic inequality trends across the country.
The continuing shutdown, driven largely by congressional resistance to renewing health care marketplace subsidies, threatens to deepen this instability. Without such assistance, average Rhode Islanders relying on those subsidies could see their premiums soar by as much as 85 percent, or more. Even with subsidies in place, health care costs remain unaffordable for many, and medical debt continues to be a leading cause of bankruptcy nationwide.
Author’s Summary
Economic inequality and housing costs in Rhode Island are worsening as political inaction deepens the financial strain on working families and increases food insecurity across the state.