Philadelphia, PA – On December 15, 2023, at Esperanza, U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Doctor of Public Administration (D-PA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Children & Families, held a press conference and released the new greedflation: (Corporations raised prices on consumers – not to offset inflation – but to increase their own profits). the report entitled “Shrinkflation: How Corporations Are Shrinking Products to Super-Size Profits.” The reports outline how major corporations maximize profits by downsizing household consumer goods like toilet paper, cereals, and snacks yet maintaining the original retail prices.
Esperanza’s founder and CEO, Rev. Luis Cortes, Jr, shared the new reality that food has become unaffordable not because of traditional competition but because of corporate greed. «We have created record profits for companies, unfortunately, at the expense of raising hunger and the working class.” Senator Bob Casey.
Senator Casey said, “Corporations are only getting more creative as they rake in record profits at the expense of Pennsylvania families: shrinking the size of their products while keeping the same sticker price. This corporate greed is one of the reasons that Americans are frustrated by expensive grocery bills. My new report not only exposes them to their greed but outlines the steps we need to take to combat it and put more money back into the pockets of working families. We will continue talking and documenting everything until it is solved. We need to hold all the big corporations accountable with more policies because they are getting benefits from their taxes, and on the other hand, they are raising the prices.
Professor Yeva Nersisyan was one of the panelists and shared that there is much evidence that corporate profit has been the main driver of inflation in the last couple of years. The corporations keep raising their prices, but they are resisting increasing wages. Americans’ purchasing power has deteriorated because of these sellers’ inflation.
Maritza Guridy and Mairim Castro are two community members, and they shared their stories about how hard it is for people around them to buy food and pay their bills. Both are unemployed and do not know what could happen to them if they did not have support from their families. «The Fortune 500 organizations do not think about us, about struggling families. I am sorry that I get emotional, but I feel angry that they are getting Christmas bonuses; they are having their holiday parties, but we have families in this city tonight that cannot feed their children because the cost of food is too high. It is why the people in our community must get educated, vote, get their voices heard, and say enough is enough.» Maritza Guridy says.
Here are the reports.
https://www.casey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/greedflation1.pdf
In 2021, the senator introduced the six-month child tax credit, providing families with extra funds for groceries. He advocates for its continuation along with a raise in the national minimum wage.
Child poverty rises following the cessation of Child Tax Credit disbursements:
Child poverty surges after Child Tax Credit payments end
Press conference air by CBS News:
«Greedflation» costing Pa. families thousands each year, Sen. Bob Casey says
Lili Daliessio is the Community Information Manager at Esperanza Housing and Economic Development.
