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Workers ‘Scraping for Crumbs’ One Year into the Trump Administration

AFL-CIO
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MEMORANDUM 

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: AFL-CIO’s Department of People Who Work for a Living
DATE: Jan. 20, 2026
RE: Workers ‘Scraping for Crumbs’ One Year into the Trump Administration

 

Contents

Summary

During his first year in office, President Trump and his allies have ruthlessly committed to turning the Project 2025 agenda from a plan into reality. The administration committed the single biggest act of union-busting in history, launched a brutal assault on immigrants and communities across the country, and attacked our most fundamental rights, including the freedom of speech. It has ripped health care from millions, made billionaires richer and corporations more powerful, moved to unleash untested artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and dismantled government agencies that provide essential services. 

And every day in the Trump economy, working people are struggling to get by. President Trump promised to “make America affordable again,” but instead spent his first year driving up costs, holding down wages and letting jobs disappear—including good-paying jobs that would help keep energy bills from skyrocketing. 

“One year into President Trump’s second term, working people’s lives are more expensive and less free,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Trump has governed for and by the billionaire CEOs and Big Tech companies, making the wealthy and powerful even richer while working people across the country struggle to get by.”

“As the 2026 campaign kicks into gear, the labor movement will make sure working people know about each and every broken promise—and work to elect leaders who will help us build an economy for workers, not billionaire bosses.”

WORKERS ‘SCRAPING FOR CRUMBS’ AS COSTS RISE FASTER THAN PAYCHECKS
Costs Climb as the Trump Administration Undercuts Workers’ Pay

President Trump promised working people he would “end inflation” and “get the prices down.” Instead of lower costs and better jobs, working people are being crushed by rising prices. One year later, wages are falling behind as inflation hovers just below 3%. While Trump funneled  $2.3 trillion in tax giveaways to the top 10% of Americans, rising costs are pricing workers out of basic goods. The crushing weight of higher prices is only compounded by the administration’s rollback of wage protections, making workers fight even harder to secure fair pay.

The Data:

  • Sixty-two percent of workers say their income isn’t keeping up with prices, and one in four households are living paycheck to paycheck.
  • Decades of employers suppressing wages so that bosses and owners could take home more of the profit workers generate is having an impact. Just 54% of Americans say they are satisfied with their wages, the lowest level since records began in 2014.
  • The Trump administration stopped enforcement that protects workers’ overtime pay, workers’ comp and more.
  • President Trump reduced the minimum wage for 400,000 federal contractors and stopped enforcing protections against worker misclassification, denying workers overtime pay, minimum wage, and the right to collectively bargain for a fair wage.
  • President Trump denied 2 million in-home health care workers minimum wage and overtime protections, forcing families to stretch smaller paychecks.
  • The Trump administration finalized wage cuts for migrant farmworkers that could slash pay for all farmworkers, including U.S. citizens, by up to 12%.  

What Working People Are Saying

Anissa, a 26-year-old in Pennsylvania: “It feels like everything is just closing in around us, honestly. I work two jobs, my partner works two jobs, and it just feels like we are [s]craping for crumbs here.”

Demetri, a yard driver at a warehouse working 72-hour weeks to get by, was forced to cut back on food to save money: “It’s not optional. It’s mandatory for me to work the hours that I work because of the rise in cost of living. It shouldn’t be that way, especially for food. I mean you gotta eat.” 

Jana, a nurse in Iowa: “Every week is hard. Every paycheck is immediately gone. It's gone before we even, you know, have it.”

On the campaign trail, President Trump told workers that “a vote for Trump means your groceries will be cheaper” and pledged to cut energy and electricity prices by at least half within a year. One year into his presidency, food prices are climbing at the fastest pace since 2022, and this winter, home heating bills have risen at double the rate of inflation. Fourteen million Americans are facing collections for overdue utility bills, and 25% say they rely on “buy now, pay later” apps just to afford groceries. Workers got saddled with rising costs at the same time the Trump administration dismantled wage standards and worker protections, rolling back laws designed to hold bosses accountable for paying workers what they deserve. 

The Data:

  • In a survey, more than 2 in 3 respondents say they’re struggling to pay grocery bills, as prices have gone up in five out of six major food-at-home categories.
  • Three in four Americans say groceries are so expensive they’ve been forced to cut back on other spending, and the Trump administration predicts food prices will continue to rise in 2026.
  • Grocery store prices are nearly 26% higher than they were five years ago. In 2025 coffee prices surged 19.8%, frozen fish shot up 8.6%, and beef rose 16.4%, hitting a record $6.69 per pound in December.
  • Past due balances to utility companies are up nearly 10%, with nearly 14 million Americans in utility debt so severe that it “was sent or soon will be sent to collections.”
  • Electricity prices are up 13% nationwide, with families in some states forced to reckon with increases of $550 to more than $700 per household.

What Working People Are Saying

Michelle, a teacher in Minnesota: “Since the price of eggs, bacon have gone up, we’ve done a lot more cereal. I’ve had to take on a second job just because everything has gotten so expensive.”

Scott, an autoworker in Michigan: “You know, [y]our food went up. Gas went up. Our wages went down. Utility bills have went up. Groceries are sky high.”

Ryan, a homeowner in New York: “I mean, outrageous prices, middle of wintertime I'm paying over $1,000 for my Con Ed[ison] bill.”

Tia, a 29-year-old in Georgia relying on buy now, pay later to afford groceries: “Food prices have skyrocketed.”

‘[H]OPES AND DREAMS SEEM SO FAR OUT OF REACH’
Rising Costs Force Workers to Take on Crushing Debt

President Trump said he would “put more money into [workers’] pockets,” with “soaring incomes” and “skyrocketing wealth.” One year in, workers are facing record levels of debt—while billionaires got $1.5 trillion richer. The administration’s billionaire-first agenda denies workers their basic rights on the job and undermines their ability to get ahead. 

The Data

  • A record-high number of Americans are overdue on car payments, as home foreclosures jumped 20% from 2024.
  • During President Trump’s first term, credit card debt hit an all-time high of $1.23 trillion.
  • Sixty-two percent of workers say their income isn’t keeping up with prices, and pay growth for lower-income workers has slowed.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill, the president's signature policy, delivers $1 trillion in tax cuts to the top 1% by forcing 15 million people to lose health insurance and likely exposing more than 22 million people to food insecurity.
  • The Trump administration made workers’ futures less secure by weakening retirement protections and allowing risky crypto investments in 401(k)s. 

Instead of protecting workers, the Trump administration weakened safety penalties for small businesses, reducing incentives for employers to proactively address workplace safety before hazards or accidents occur. 

What Working People Are Saying

Megan, a data entry worker in Missouri: “How do people get ahead in this kind of climate? [H]opes and dreams seem so far out of reach. That’s insane to me, I don’t see how normal everyday working families can move up. It’s like we are all just stuck.” 

Randis, an operations supervisor at a distribution center in Tennessee: “I’ve used [l]oans for groceries and even to pay my phone bill. When everything has gotten so expensive — groceries, gas — it makes my life easier to use these loans to buy my groceries or whatever else I need at that moment.” 

‘I FEEL INVISIBLE…THE JOB MARKET HAS SHOWN NO MERCY’
Under President Trump, Job Growth Stalls and Unemployment Climbs

President Trump said he would “bring jobs back like nobody's ever seen,” promising to “create millions and millions of new jobs” and reinvigorate the labor market. Instead, more than 1 million corporate layoffs were announced last year, employers have done “almost no hiring since April” and the number of long-term unemployed people surged to the highest level since “the nation was…reeling from the pandemic.” Both seasoned professionals and recent graduates are spending months applying to hundreds of jobs with nothing to show for it. 

The Data:

What Working People Are Saying

Aubrey, a veteran and mom who hasn’t been able to find a job since leaving the military: “I feel invisible because despite serving my country, despite being a veteran, the job market has shown no mercy….I want more for my kids than just giving them the bare minimum. But it makes me emotional because I just want them to have so much more. And it hurts telling them no.”

Heidi, laid off and applying to jobs from 8 a.m.-–5 p.m. every day in Tennessee: “I think I've done about 56 to 60 jobs already. And I’ve only had seven callbacks. So, it's just been really disheartening.”

Ryan, applying to more than 150 jobs since being laid off: “It’s almost like there’s nothing out there.” 

Emily, a digital marketing manager with prior experience in hospitality in New York: “If you have the ability to work, you should be able to. [T]hat's how the American dream happens: You pull yourself up by your bootstraps, put in the work and you'll be rewarded. But that's not happening anymore.”

Ary, a 2024 graduate of Temple University: “I just can’t find a job. [Prospects are] looking kind of grim.”

Ryan, a 24-year-old in Pennsylvania: “I’m not living my own life anymore…just felt like I was putting all my applications in a pit.”

‘HE’S AN ENEMY OF WORKING PEOPLE, HE IS NOT A FRIEND’
Workers Reject Trump’s ‘A+++’  Economy

As costs rise, jobs disappear and debt mounts, and confidence in President Trump's economic leadership has cratered. Working people are ready to hold the president and his allies accountable for their billionaire-first agenda—and its devastating consequences for the economy—in 2026. 

 The Data

  • At the end of 2025, 72% of Americans said the economy is poor, with 61% agreeing that the Trump administration’s policies have made it worse.
  • After a year under the president’s “billionaire-first” agenda,” only 38% of Americans believe that Trump cares about “people like you,” and 65% of Americans believe that the Trump administration’s policies favor the wealthy.
  • As Trump touts renovations to the White House––from the ballroom to the bathrooms––nearly 6 in 10 Americans say that he is focusing on the wrong things.
  • Half of Americans believe the president’s policies have contributed to job losses, and 53% of Americans say the economy is getting worse.
  • As Americans feel the squeeze of the Trump administration’s billionaire economy, only 15% of Americans believe that today’s children will grow up to be better off than their parents, while 51% of Americans believe that today’s children will grow up to be worse off than their parents.

What Working People Are Saying

Nick, a painter in Rhode Island: “It doesn't seem like he’s worried about me….He’s an enemy of working people, he is not a friend.”

Jesse, an Ironworker in New York: “Everything's going up.”

Jeanette, a 74-year-old retiree in New York: “More and more people are going to be out on the streets, because they aren't going to be able to afford it––medicine, food, taxes, services, everything is going up.” 

Olivia, a 70-year-old in New Mexico looking for work because she can’t afford to retire: “It is hard for me just to survive; I wish people in power would think more with their heart. It is hard for me to accept that I am not able to enjoy the rest of my life, because I have worked hard all my life.”