Parents are struggling with high prices this year. It may shape how they vote

Any parent will tell you it's the hardest job, and many say it's gotten more difficult because everyday expenses have increased in recent years.

Joseph Yusuf of Washington, D.C., is one of them. He spends every afternoon with his 11-year-old daughter, Jakayla. She lives with her mom nearby, and after school, Yusuf and Jakayla do homework together, sometimes play video games or shoot hoops.

He has a big support system — that includes his mom and grandmother, who help out as he manages his full-time job and co-parenting Jakayla. But rising costs have left him feeling particularly challenged.

Yusuf, who works at Howard University as an events and facilities coordinator, says he wants to eventually start saving for her college, but for months now, after bills are paid, there's no money left over.

"Food, gas, car insurance, rent, just any and everything. All the above have just risen. And I'm not going to lie to you, I stress," he says. "There's a part of me that just, you know, wants to break down."

Many Americans say economic pressures — particularly inflation — are key to how they are thinking about this year's election. Consumer prices have remained high in the U.S., even though the job market has been quite stable. For groceries, for example, families are paying 25% more than they were before the pandemic.

Raegen Selden has six children ranging from 11 to 25 years old, and the Philadelphia mother says in those 25 years she has been raising children, inflation has made this one of the tougher financial times for her and her husband despite that they are bringing in more money.

"I feel like it's harder now because even though I am financially where I wasn't 25 years ago, I feel like things have gotten more expensive,"