Economic distress on the rise

San José, CA – While not as visible as the spike in gasoline prices since Trump began his war on Iran, economic distress is rising as more people lose their access to food benefits, lose their health insurance and lose their homes to foreclosure.

Last July, the Trump administration increased work requirements for people who are getting food aid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Since then, almost 3.5 million people have been dropped from SNAP, or 8% of the total. But in some states, such as Arizona, the number of people getting food aid fell by almost half.

This is despite the official government estimate that almost 50 million people, or almost 14% of households, are “food insecure,” meaning that they have to cut back on how much they eat, or reduce the quality of their food. This is even more severe among households with children, where 18% are considered food insecure.

When the Republican Congress did not extend federal subsidies for private health insurance that were expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, premiums soared. People in Republican-led states that did not expand Medicaid – older people, those with middle incomes – were hit the hardest. Initial sign-ups fell by more than a million people, but millions more are being dropped after not paying the higher premiums, which could increase tenfold or more.

Before the cuts, 8% of Americans, or 27 million people, did not have any health insurance at all. Almost 40% of Americans depend on government health insurance, mainly Medicare (for seniors and disabled) and Medicaid (for lower incomes). In addition, there are the Veterans Administration and the subsidized ACA marketplace, which are also government funded. While statistics for this year and the impact of the cuts won’t be available until the fall of 2027, the number of Americans without any health insurance is rising.

Finally, foreclosures on homeowners still paying their mortgages rose 26% over a year ago, to the highest level in six years. In the first three months of 2026, almost 120,000 foreclosures were filed by lenders against homeowners who fell behind on their payments. Partly this is because of the end of mortgage protections for borrowers passed during COVID-19, but homeowners with mortgages are also under pressure from higher home insurance premiums and property taxes.

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