The chart above is made from information provided by a recent Gallup Poll. The survey was done between June 9th and 15th of 1,029 randomly chosen national adults, and has a margin of error of 4 points. The numbers above were arrived at by subtracting the number saying they are spending less from those saying they are spending more for each of the items. In other words, a positive number means a majority of Americans are spending more on that item, while a negative number means a majority are spending less.
Note that the areas in which people are spending more are basically those areas that they have to have (groceries, gas, household items, rent/mortagage, utilities, etc.). There is not much people can do to reduce spending in these areas (since they must have food, shelter, transportation, etc.).
But don't think the increase in spending in these areas is because people have more money to spend. That is simply not true. Wages remain stagnant (because owners & executives continue to hog almost all of rising productivity), and the median wage is still falling (due to the increase in the percentage of low-wage jobs). The reason people are spending more on basic items is because inflation has raised the cost of those items. People have to spend more just to maintain the same amount they need to purchase.
The rich and the corporations have recovered nicely from the Bush recession, but Main Street has not. Most Americans are falling further behind each year, as inflation rises and wages do not. Add to this the fact that far too many Americans still are unemployed, and most of those who get a job find themselves making a low wage. Main Street needs some help -- but our politicians continue to cut help for hurting Americans, so they can continue to let the rich pay abnormally low taxes (and many corporations pay no taxes at all).
