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Americans spent more money in 2021 paying taxes than on food, clothing, and healthcare combined, according to recently released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
In 2021, according to the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, American “consumer units” spent an average of $15,495.28 on food, clothing, and healthcare combined while paying $16,792.73 in paying taxes at both the federal, state, and local levels.
According to the BLS glossary, a “consumer unit” refers to all members that make up a household, whether a whole family, a married couple, a group of roommates, a person living alone or a cohabiting couple.
In disaggregated spending, the average American “consumer unit” spent $8,289.29 on food, $1,754.39 on clothing, and $5,451.61 on healthcare. At the same time, that same American consumer unit spent $8,541.46 on federal taxes, $5,565.61 on social security taxes; $2,564.14 on state and local taxes; and $105 on other taxes. Finally, the BLS deducts $2,541.71 from tax payments resulting from pandemic payments made by the Government.
This phenomenon is not new; even as recently as 2020, Americans have spent more money paying taxes than on food, clothing, and healthcare.
According to the BLS, Americans paid a total of $17,148.12 in taxes that year, on average $8,811.78 in federal income taxes; $5,392.35 in Social Security contributions; $2,429.71 in state and local income taxes; $2,353.42 in property taxes; and $71.87 in other taxes, less an average of $1,911.01 in stimulus payments received from the government.
Meanwhile, in food, clothing, and healthcare, Americans paid $13,927.74 in total, which included $7,316.47 for food, $1,434.26 for clothing, and $5,177.01 for healthcare.
Economist, writer and liberal. With a focus on finance, the war on drugs, history, and geopolitics // Economista, escritor y liberal. Con enfoque en finanzas, guerra contra las drogas, historia y geopolítica