If you want to afford to raise a family, living in a blue state is a bad idea, according to a new report from CNBC.
The five most expensive states for a family of four to live in are solidly Democratic, the report found. You can thank Democratic politicians in Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, New York, and California for making life unaffordable for people.
While liberals in the federal government contributed to the problem by exacerbating inflation with wasteful spending, state and local governments also needlessly make life more expensive for their constituents.
Each of the 10 states with the highest average state and local tax burden in the country has a Democratic-controlled state legislature, while New York and Hawaii top the list, according to WalletHub. When you let people keep more of the money they make, they won’t need to make as much to survive.
However, taxing people at high rates doesn’t guarantee they will receive worthwhile services in return. New York City, for example, provides migrants with prepaid debit cards and, like Massachusetts, puts them up in long-term hotel and motel stays on the taxpayers’ dime.
While states such as Florida crack down on illegal immigrant spending, cutting spending on illegal immigrants using Medicaid in about half in the past year, California began offering free health insurance to many illegal immigrants starting this year. People will have less money to pay for their health insurance if they’re paying for illegal immigrants’ healthcare with both their tax dollars and premiums, as publicly funded healthcare offers lousy reimbursement rates, forcing private insurers to pay more to keep hospitals in business.
Being magnets for illegal immigration — by providing illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses, in-state tuition, and jobs with no E-Verify requirement — also drives up housing demand. In certain liberal states, such as Massachusetts and Hawaii, communities have strict zoning laws that prevent anyone from building new housing to keep up with rising demand. That’s why a one-bedroom apartment in the Boston metro area is typically over $2,000 per month, while a one-bedroom apartment in the city averages about $3,000.
Some communities in Massachusetts have minimum lot sizes for new houses of nearly two acres. Few have minimum lot sizes under one-quarter of an acre, forcing people to buy way more land than they need, which artificially raises home prices and keeps inventory low.
Meanwhile, some of the most expensive cities in the country, such as New York City and San Francisco, have so-called rent-stabilized apartments, another term for rent control. Economists across the political spectrum condemn this policy as counterproductive as it reduces the available housing stock and drives up the cost of renting non-controlled units.
Housing costs rise faster than inflation, except in places such as Austin, Texas, that embrace the free market. There, and in similar locales, massive amounts of new inventory are causing rent prices to drop.
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Childcare is another cost that continues to soar, and absurd regulations on the industry can worsen the problem. Though not a state, Washington, D.C., requires childcare workers to have a college degree, limiting the supply of workers while doing nothing to curb the demand. Many people without college degrees are great with children, including parents and grandparents. Why exclude them from an opportunity to make a living while making childcare less accessible?
Blue states should prioritize reducing the cost of living for families, even if it means embracing pragmatism over liberalism. As costs worsen, many people will have little choice but to move elsewhere.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.