Let me ask you something.
When was the last time life actually got easier?
Not easier like “I found a good parking spot.” Easier like — the bills felt manageable, the doctor’s visit didn’t require a payment plan, and you didn’t have to choose between your kids’ needs and your own.
You’re doing everything right. You’re showing up to work, paying your bills, trying to stretch a paycheck that somehow never quite stretches far enough. And yet — here you are, still wondering why it feels like you’re running on a treadmill that someone else controls.
You’re not imagining it. And you’re definitely not alone. Two-thirds of Americans report that the rising cost of living is placing significant pressure on their households.
The numbers don’t lie.
Groceries: paying more, getting less
Grocery prices in the US have risen roughly 4–5%. However, if your cart leans toward ground beef (up 21%), coffee (up 29%), orange juice (up 26%), or fresh tomatoes (up 32%), your personal inflation rate could easily be double or triple the headline figure. If your cart leans on snacks, cereal, and paper goods, you’re getting hit by both the visible price increases and the invisible product shrinking.
Housing: the biggest bill keeps getting bigger
Housing is the biggest bill most families pay — and it keeps growing. Americans now spend nearly $1.82 trillion a year on mortgage and rent payments combined. Mortgage payments alone rose $145 billion from the year before, a bigger jump than any other type of bill.
Renters are feeling it most. More than half of renter households now spend over 30% of their income on housing. Households that spend more than that are officially considered ‘cost-burdened.’
Childcare: more than college tuition
Childcare in Ohio costs $10,000 to $15,000 per child per year. That’s more than in-state college tuition. This cost is now literally shaping family decisions. In 2025 polling, 70% of Americans said raising kids is too expensive — up 13 points in one year — and for the first time in that survey’s history, finances became the #1 reason families cap how many children they have. Meanwhile, 31% of families are dipping into savings to cover childcare, and supply is tightening as well: licensed centers decreased in 26 of 43 states.
Electricity and gas: the next big squeeze
Your electric bill isn’t your imagination. Prices rose 7% in 2025, more than double inflation, and the average household paid 9.6% more than the year before. Utilities have already asked for the next round — nearly $31 billion in rate hikes, double the previous year’s requests. They point to an aging grid and the data center boom. Fair enough. But somebody has to pay for it, and right now the plan is you.
Natural gas prices climbed even faster — up nearly 11% in a year — pushing the average family’s winter heating bill up about $62. And gas stings twice: it heats nearly half of American homes, and it fuels about 40% of our electricity, so when gas prices rise, both bills go up
Wages: paychecks that can’t keep up
Here’s the part that makes all those rising bills sting more: paychecks in Ohio aren’t keeping up.
The typical Ohio worker earns $24.84 an hour — up just 36 cents from the year before. And our lowest-paid workers didn’t get a raise. Once you count inflation, they took a 24-cent-an-hour pay cut. So the folks with the least room in their budgets are the ones falling furthest behind. According to Policy Matters Ohio, a progressive-leaning think tank, the gap between Ohio’s highest-paid and lowest-paid workers grew 5.5% in a single year.
Finding a job is getting harder, too. Ohio’s unemployment rate was 3.3% in July 2023 — the lowest in more than twenty years. By last summer, it was 5.0%. Ask around — people are searching longer, settling for less, and thinking twice before asking for a raise.
Higher bills. A paycheck that can’t keep up. Ohio families are getting squeezed from both ends.
What Maria Will Fight for in Congress
1. Expand the Child Tax Credit and cap childcare costs
Expand the Child Tax Credit and boost federal childcare funding so no Ohio family pays more for daycare than they would for in-state tuition. Families shouldn’t have to choose between caring for their children and making ends meet.
2. Make utilities and data centers pay their fair share
Make utilities and data centers pay their fair share by strengthening federal oversight of rate hikes and requiring large data centers to fund the grid upgrades their demand is driving — instead of passing the bill to your kitchen table..
3. Crack down on price gouging and shrinkflation
Crack down on price gouging and shrinkflation with real transparency rules, so companies can’t quietly charge you more for less.
4. Lower housing costs
Lower housing costs by expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and investing in new construction, because the only lasting fix for rent is more homes.
5. Raise the federal minimum wage and protect overtime pay
Raise the federal minimum wage and protect overtime pay, so the workers falling furthest behind finally get a raise that outpaces inflation.
6. Take on corporate consolidation
Take on corporate consolidation in groceries, meatpacking, and energy, because fewer competitors always means higher prices for you.
A Note from Maria
“Ohio families aren’t asking for a handout. They’re asking for a paycheck that covers the bills and a government that’s on their side. That’s not too much to ask — and I’ll fight for it every single day.”