An increasing number of Americans anticipate that their grocery bills will increase in the future, according to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports published on Aug. 9.
The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted between July 24–25, and the margin of sampling error is +3 percentage points at a 95 percent level of confidence.
Overall, 61 percent said they expect the amount they spend on groceries to be even higher a year from now. Of those surveyed, more married Americans and those with children said they expect their grocery bills to increase next year compared to those who are unmarried and without children.
“Americans have noticed they’re paying higher grocery prices, and most expect the cost of food to keep going up,” Rasmussen said in its report.
Meanwhile, 63 percent of respondents said they have changed their eating habits because of increasing food costs, up from 55 percent in April. Overall, 75 percent of Americans who make an annual income below $30,000 said increasing food costs have prompted them to change their eating habits, compared to 31 percent of Americans with incomes above $200,000 yearly.
Of those surveyed, 77 percent of Republicans said they expect their grocery bills to be higher a year from now compared to 47 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of unaffiliated voters.
However, Democrats are “less likely to say rising food prices have caused them to change their eating habits,” the report states.
The poll comes as inflation has soared over the past year, prompting households to tighten their belts and change the way they shop for everything, from food to clothing and gasoline.
Despite the number of Americans who are financially struggling steadily increasing, the Biden administration has continued to downplay the risk of an economic recession in the United States.
That is despite two consecutive quarters of negative growth, which is the generally accepted definition of an economic downturn although not the official definition. Speaking of that data in July, President Joe Biden said it “doesn’t sound like a recession to me.”
A nonprofit, non-partisan organization called the National Bureau of Economic Research declares when the country enters a recession, but has not yet done so.
Economists expect July’s Consumer Price Index, which is set to be released on Aug. 10, to show that inflation eased slightly last month.
Respondents in that survey said they anticipate inflation to run at a rate of 6.2 percent over the next year, slightly down from June’s expectations that it would run at a rate of 6.8 percent, and cited a decline in gas prices and the belief that food prices will also drop in the future.
