As income inequality grows, a state senator renews the call to strengthen Rhode Island’s safety net
A state senator argues that society should not tolerate the worsening concentration of wealth among the richest, while many citizens are unable to afford housing, medical care, or even food.
“We must not accept the increasing concentration of wealth at the top while ordinary people lack affordable housing, health care and even food.”
The prolonged federal government shutdown has left about 145,000 Rhode Islanders, who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), without critical funds to buy groceries. Even if the Trump administration eventually complies with the court order to pay partial November benefits, hunger across the state has already deepened, with nearly 40 percent of residents now facing food insecurity.
According to newly released data from HousingWorks RI, renters’ median household income in Rhode Island is $48,434. Yet nowhere in the state can households earning under $60,000 annually afford the typical rent for a two-bedroom apartment. In many communities, the necessary income surpasses $75,000, and in some, even $100,000. Similarly, no local household earning below $100,000 can reasonably afford a median-priced home.
Meanwhile, the shutdown stems primarily from congressional Republicans’ refusal to renew marketplace subsidies for health care coverage. Without these federal supports, insurance premiums for many Rhode Islanders would rise by 85 percent or more. Even with the subsidies, health care remains unaffordable for a large portion of the population, and medical debt continues to be a major cause of bankruptcy nationwide.
Author’s Summary
Growing inequality and policy inaction are pushing more Rhode Islanders toward hunger, unstable housing, and unaffordable medical care amid the federal shutdown.