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Our ‘Momflation’ Problem

Mom with empty wallet - just coins
Penna Dexternever miss viewpoints

The worst inflation our country has seen in 40 years is upon us. We all feel it. But inflation hits some communities harder than others. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis states that, although we report a national inflation rate — currently 7.9 percent — different communities are impacted differently.

“Covid-related” stimulus was sold, in part, to help lower-income households. Yet the ensuing inflation has hit them the hardest.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. She has long insisted that the policies championed by progressives, and “served under the guise of caring about low-income Americans end up hurting those very communities.”

“Higher-income households,” writes Star Parker, “have more flexibility in adjusting behavior than do lower-income households.”

Parents with young families are also disproportionally affected by inflation. Mary Clare Amselem is a writer for The Daily Signal. She’s also the mother of two children in diapers. She says there’s a new term — “momflation” — used to describe “the startling increase in prices” mothers, and families in general, experience as they purchase food and necessities — the basics.

It is a shock. The current generation of young parents have never experienced inflation like this. They’re forced to spend a growing share of their income for all the supplies needed to keep kids clean and fed. Mary Clare Anselem says she’s spending at least $100 (dollars) a month on diapers alone.

“Momflation” affects parents of all political persuasions. An opinion piece in The Hill argues that parents have the power to become “America’s strongest special interest group” and could use it to get Congress to reconsider the child-related new and expanded entitlements contained in President Biden’s Build Back Better proposal.

The Daily Signal’s Ms. Aselem has a better idea. Parents across the nation are successfully coming together to gain control over their children’s education. They could join forces to challenge the administration’s inflationary policies and make “this year’s midterms a momflation-fueled referendum.”penna's vp small

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