A new survey reveals that clear majorities of American families, concerned about the rising costs of inflation, are being forced to cancel their summer vacation plans.
According to The Center Square, the poll from Echelon Insights shows that “75% of parents say they are concerned about the rising cost of everyday purchases like food or gas.” Inflation has reached new highs not seen in over 40 years, affecting the costs of everything from gasoline to groceries.
The survey also asked if inflation has “caused you to change any of your plans for what your children will do this summer?” Of the respondents, 57 percent said yes, while just 37 percent said no. In addition, 51 percent of families said that they ultimately “changed or canceled plans for a family trip,” with another 41 percent saying that they “changed or canceled activities for my children like camp or extracurricular activities” due to inflation.
An additional 26 percent of respondents said that they “won’t be able to stay home with my children because I need to work extra hours.”
The poll was conducted ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, one of the most popular vacation weekends of the year. In addition to the economic impact forcing families to cancel such plans, inflation could also have a negative impact on specific economies that are dependent on the tourism industry.
Of all the things that have seen prices spike due to inflation, perhaps none is more punishing than the price of gas. AAA said that gas prices have continuously reached new record highs every day for the past two weeks.
“The national average for a gallon of gas has not fallen for nearly a month. Gasoline has either remained flat or risen every day since April 24 and has set a new record daily since May 10,” AAA announced. “That was the day gas eclipsed the previous record high of $4.33, set earlier this year on March 11. The national average for a gallon of gasoline is now $4.59 and all 50 states are above $4 per gallon.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) confirms that food and gas prices have skyrocketed to historic levels since Joe Biden came to power.
“The all items index increased 8.3 percent for the 12 months ending April, a smaller increase than the 8.5-percent figure for the period ending in March,” BLS said. “The all items less food and energy index rose 6.2 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index rose 30.3 percent over the last year, and the food index increased 9.4 percent, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 1981.”