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ATLANTA - Housing, groceries, medical bills and child care draw from the same paycheck. A new analysis finds that, for about seven in 10 Georgians, at least one of those costs takes up more of the household budget than researchers consider affordable.
That is roughly the same share as the country overall, according to the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality’s new Family Economic Well-Being Index. But Georgia stands out for its health care costs: 48% of residents face a health care burden, compared with 41% of people nationwide.
The index looks beyond whether a household falls below the poverty line. It measures how much income is needed to cover four basic needs — housing, food, health care and child care — and how often those costs pile up.
Health care and food costs hit Georgia harder
What we know:
Health care is the most common burden measured in Georgia. The index classifies a household as burdened when estimated insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs reach at least 10% of its income. By that measure, the share of Georgians affected is seven percentage points higher than the national rate.
Food costs burden 36% of Georgians, compared with 32% nationwide. For this category, researchers estimated the cost of food using a U.S. Department of Agriculture low-cost food plan and counted it as a burden when it reached at least 18% of household income.
Housing is one area where Georgia is close to the national figure. The index found a housing burden for 32% of Georgians, compared with 33% nationwide. A household meets that threshold when rent or mortgage payments and utilities take at least 30% of its income.
Child care remains a strain for families with young children
Dig deeper:
Among Georgia households with a child younger than 6, 53% face a child care burden. That is lower than the 61% national rate, but still amounts to more than half of the households measured in this category.
The child care percentages describe households with young children, while the housing, food and health care percentages describe people living in affected households. The figures should not be added together because the same household can face more than one burden.
Many Georgians face several burdens at once
That overlap is a central finding of the index. In Georgia, 19% of people face burdens in at least three of the four categories, compared with 16% nationwide.
Another 21% of Georgians face two burdens, and 29% face one. About 30% face none of the four. Because the percentages are rounded, they do not add to exactly 100%.
Children are especially likely to live in households where costs overlap. In Georgia, 28% of children face three or more burdens, compared with 25% of children nationwide.
How Georgia compares to the rest of the country
Big picture view:
Georgia matches the nation’s roughly 70% rate of people facing at least one basic-needs burden, but has higher rates of health care and food burdens and a lower child care burden among households with young children.
- At least one burden: About 70% in Georgia and 70% nationwide face a burden related to housing, food, health care or child care.
- Health care: 48% in Georgia vs. 41% nationwide — Georgia is 7 percentage points higher.
- Food: 36% in Georgia vs. 32% nationwide — Georgia is 4 points higher.
- Housing: 32% in Georgia vs. 33% nationwide — Georgia is 1 point lower.
- Child care: Among households with a child younger than 6, 53% in Georgia vs. 61% nationwide face a burden — Georgia is 8 points lower.
- Three or more burdens: 19% in Georgia vs. 16% nationwide — Georgia is 3 points higher.
What the findings do — and do not — show
Being counted as burdened does not necessarily mean a family missed a bill or went without food or medical care. It means a cost met or exceeded the share of income set as the index’s affordability threshold.
The findings are based primarily on the 2023 American Community Survey, supplemented with estimated costs for needs including food and child care. They are a picture of household affordability using that data, rather than a measure of what Georgians are paying this week.
The center says the results show why looking at a single bill — or at the poverty rate alone — can miss the pressure families feel when several necessary expenses come due at once.
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